November 9, 2011

Operator Does SDV with Motorola and Cisco Equipment

Cass Cable TV will use Adara Technologies for a full-line-up, switched digital video (SDV) network upgrade that enables set-top boxes, conditional access system (CAS) and headend equipment provided by Motorola to co-exist with Cisco set-tops, CAS and equipment.

The Adara solution will enable Cass Cable TV - currently a Moto-shop cable operator - to maintain its Motorola headend and digital set-top box investment while simultaneously growing its HD video services offering using Cisco SDV technology and advanced Web-connected set-tops. The Adara solution incorporates Cisco’s SDV technology to deliver incremental HD services, and it combines Cisco’s advanced, Web-connected set-top boxes with a next generation user interface for interactive Web applications.

Cass Cable TV, a triple-play service provider with approximately 16,000 subscribers in Central Illinois, chose the Adara solution over an analog reclamation approach using digital terminal adapters (DTAs).

“Over the past two years, we looked at a number of upgrade options, including analog reclamation using DTAs in particular, but the huge investment required versus the ultimate benefit to us and our customers did not come close to meeting even a reasonable threshold,” said Gerald Gill, president of Cass Cable TV, in a statement.

"Historically, SDV has been used to switch only the least popular long-tail video services," said Stan Koukarine, CTO for Adara, in a statement. "But SDV is much more powerful than that. By dedicating as few as eight EIA channels and progressively managing the set-top tuner service group sizes, an operator can multiply his video service offering by many times.”