November 21, 2011

Adara To Offer Hosted Version of Cisco's Videoscape

Adara Technologies has had some success offering hosted and managed switched digital video (SDV) technology to small service providers. Adara's solution incorporates Cisco’s SDV technology with Cisco’s digital set-top boxes. Adara now also is working with Cisco to offer Videoscape in 2012 as a hosted and managed solution for smaller operators.

Cisco introduced Videoscape at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. It's a comprehensive TV platform for service providers, bringing together digital TV and online content with social media and communications applications. (For more, see Cisco Intros Videoscape and Cisco’s Videoscape Not New But It Could Be A Game Changer.

Announced customers for Videoscape include Australia's Telstra and Korea Telecom. Cisco also recently announced it was buying BNI Video for $99 million to enhance its Videoscape platform. (For more, see Cisco’s BNI Video Buy Should Boost Videoscape).

Although Videoscape is an all-encompassing and complicated offering, seemingly best suited for Tier 1 operators, Adara's co-founder and CEO Joseph Nucara, said SDV also is complicated, and that's why a hosted version is nice for smaller operators.

Before Cisco and Adara can offer hosted Videoscape, Nucara said, "There are a few business-related loose ends" mainly involving content rights issues. "The Tier 2 guys can let the Tier 1 guys battle out the rights."

As far as its SDV offering Adara has gained some traction, counting the following smaller operators as customers: CableCable, Baldwin Telecom and Cass Cable TV. (For more, click here).

With SDV, smaller operators can reclaim bandwidth to offer more HD video. And one of the most appealing aspects of the Adara/Cisco solution is that it's designed to co-exist with other digital video platform set-top boxes and conditional access (CA) technologies service providers currently may be supporting, including those from Motorola.



-Linda Hardesty