• Report: SureWest to cease FTTH expansion to save cash
By Traci Patterson
SureWest Communications plans to pull back on the expansion of its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network next year — including in Kansas City — in an effort to free up cash to buy other telecommunications companies, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.
The economic downturn has lowered the stock values of many other telecommunications companies, but SureWest’s stock price has headed upward, which could lead to profitable deals for the company, the Journal reported.
The Journal’s coverage of SureWest’s plans is available here.
• BitBand takes wraps off of IPTV server
By Mike Robuck
BitBand introduced a new, solid-state, flash-based server today that was designed to aid IPTV service providers.
BitBand said the new server, which is called the BitBand Vision Ti4, offers high-streaming throughput to help provide flexibility and improved performance for service providers. The server, which is part of BitBand’s content delivery network platform, offers cost reductions in solid-state drives and the flexibility of using commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware.
“BitBand focuses on optimizing our leading software technology that allows us to stream 30 Gigabit per second using today’s COTS servers,” said Yuval Sovinsky, executive vice president of strategy and marketing for BitBand.
• Envivio starts shipping mobile TV encoder
By Mike Robuck
Envivio said it has begun shipping the mobile TV configuration of its 4Caster C4 three-screens encoder. The encoding platform is designed to provide video compression for all three screens of consumer video – TVs, PCs and mobile devices – from a single platform.
Envivio said the encoder, which garnered the Vision Award at last month’s TelcoTV show, has entered service with several mobile network operators and content aggregators around the world.
The Envivio 4Caster C4 simultaneously delivers four channels of video to up to 32 different mobile TV profiles, providing a compression platform for operators launching new services or upgrading early generation services based on software encoding platforms.
More Broadband Direct:
• NCTA, cable industry offer 2-month quiet period on channel migration
• Comporium picks Evolution Digital’s DTAs
• D.C. Council approves video franchise for Verizon
• ACA pushing back against FCC status reports
• Sprint to sell retail WiMAX modem
• Motorola to freeze pension plans, cut exec pay
• Chairman Ahmed exits Sonus Networks
• Valens to demo new home net tech
• CSG app creates personalized e-mail blasts
• Macrovision’s Powers named chair of DLNA Ecosystem Committee
• Stocks fluctuate as investors digest Fed rate cut
• Broadband Briefs for 12/17/08
