Telewest Rolls Out TV-on-Demand With Harmonic's Industry Leading IP-Enabled VOD Delivery Solution; Award Winning Narrowcast Serv
September 01 2005 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq: HLIT), the recognized leader in scalable
IP-enabled video-on-demand (VOD) delivery solutions, today
announced that Telewest (Nasdaq: TLWT)--a leading provider of the
video, voice and broadband internet triple play in the UK--is using
Harmonic's Narrowcast Services Gateway(TM) (NSG) to deliver its new
TV-on-demand service, Teleport. The recently introduced service is
currently available in the South West of the U.K. and is being
rolled out incrementally across Telewest's entire network. The
award winning NSG is the world's most widely deployed IP-enabled
on-demand service edge solution, supporting more and larger-scale
deployments than any other device in its class. Telewest serves
more than 1.8 million of the 4.7 million homes its network passes.
The digital television service, received by approximately 90
percent of the company's TV subscribers, positions Telewest to
benefit from the reduced churn and new revenue associated with
on-demand television services. The subscriber base is expected to
be fully digital by the end of 2006. Telewest has been adept at
packaging video, voice and data services--with triple play
penetration of more than 30 percent, which is one of the highest in
the world--and on-demand services are expected to play a key role
in ensuring competitiveness and driving triple-play penetration
moving forward. "Consumer feedback to Teleport Replay, which offers
free, on-demand access to programs broadcast over the preceding
seven days, suggests that our consumers want more control over
their viewing experience," said Howard Watson, Chief Technology
Officer at Telewest. "Harmonic's proven solutions and expertise
have helped us reduce the cost and complexity of launching
on-demand services by taking full advantage of our existing
infrastructure. While the initial application of Harmonic's
Narrowcast Services Gateway is to support on-demand services, its
longer term purpose is to be a platform for introducing new types
of targeted services that will keep Telewest at the competitive
forefront." To support the initial launch and future expansion of
on-demand services, Telewest is deploying Harmonic's versatile
Narrowcast Service Gateway systems in headends and hub sites
throughout the network. Harmonic's standards-based solution enables
on-demand streams to be efficiently transported from remote video
servers using Telewest's existing IP backbone network. At the
network's edge, NSG systems extract and reconstitute the MPEG
streams from the IP packets, and then provide a seamless interface
with the existing HFC cable network. As take-rates increase,
Telewest can add more NSG capacity to meet the demand and support
new services. The NSG also uniquely supports both the real time and
pre- encryption of video content to provide the highest levels of
content protection and flexibility in service provisioning.
"Telewest is a superb example of how cable operators can
effectively package the triple play to enhance retention and
revenue in an increasingly competitive world," said Patrick
Harshman, President of the Convergent Systems Division of Harmonic
Inc. "The introduction of VOD and replay TV services are an
important step in realizing the all high definition on-demand
future, a key differentiator for cable operators. Aggressive
marketing of video-on-demand services by our customers worldwide is
increasing viewer awareness and is expected to quickly drive demand
for billions of narrowcast streams annually. As the platform of
choice for on-demand service delivery, the Narrowcast Services
Gateway is well positioned to distribute the vast majority of the
on-demand content." A pioneer in bringing the efficiencies,
flexibilities and economics of IP to the cable video backbone
network, Harmonic was awarded "biggest contributor to the future of
content delivery" by a respected industry publication. With the
launch of Telewest's service, the NSG is powering services
throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, making it the industry's
most widely deployed IP-enabled on-demand edge device. The breadth
of deployments--by operators of all sizes in communities of all
sizes--has made the NSG the industry's most versatile and proven
solution as well as given Harmonic unparalleled expertise in
enabling narrowcast video services. About Telewest Telewest, the
broadband communications and media group, currently passes and
markets to 4.7 million homes and provides multi-channel television,
telephone and internet services to 1.8 million residential
customers. Its content division, Flextech, is the BBC's partner in
UKTV. Together they are the largest supplier of basic channels to
the UK pay-TV market with a portfolio that combines wholly owned
and managed channels, including the ten joint venture channels with
the BBC. For further information go to mediacentre.telewest.co.uk.
About Harmonic Inc. Harmonic Inc. is a leading provider of digital
video, broadband optical networking and IP delivery systems to
cable, satellite, telecom and broadcast network operators.
Harmonic's open standards-based solutions for the headend through
the last mile enable customers to develop new revenue sources and a
competitive advantage by offering powerful interactive video, voice
and data services such as video-on-demand, high definition digital
television, telephony and Internet access. Harmonic (Nasdaq: HLIT)
is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with R&D, sales and
system integration centers worldwide. The Company's customers,
including many of the world's largest communications providers,
deliver services in virtually every country. Visit
www.harmonicinc.com for more information. This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21(E) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to:
the benefit from the reduced churn and new revenue associated with
on-demand television services, the expectation that the subscriber
base will be fully digital by the end of 2006, the expectation that
on-demand services will play a key role in ensuring competitiveness
and driving triple-play penetration, the NSG platform keeping
Telewest at the competitive forefront, the ability to add more
capacity as take-rates increase, the expectation that
video-on-demand services will quickly drive demand for billions of
narrowcast streams annually, and the NSG's positioning to
distribute the vast majority of the on-demand content. Our
expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not
materialize, and actual results could differ materially from those
projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this press
release area also subject to other risks and uncertainties,
including those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission including its recent Reports
filed on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Harmonic does not undertake to
update any forward-looking statements. EDITOR'S NOTE - Product and
company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective owners.
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