* Bright House names Robertson division president
By Mike Robuck
Bright House Networks announced that cable veteran Mike Robertson has been named division president.
Robertson’s 29-year career in cable included stops at American Television & Communications, Time Warner Cable and Paragon before he joined Bright House in 2003.
“Mike exemplifies the visionary leadership necessary in today’s highly competitive marketplace,” said Kevin Hyman, Bright House’s EVP for cable operations. “He has a keen sense of ‘people management’ and the superior ability to navigate in tumultuous waters. His blended background of both finance and operations make him the perfect choice to run Bright House Networks’ largest division.”
* Verizon’s FiOS TV expands in N.Y., Va.
By Traci Patterson
Verizon has expanded its FiOS TV service in New York and is now taking orders for the video service in parts of the Town of Ramapo communities of Hillcrest, Ladentown, Monsey, Tallman, Viola, Northeast Ramapo and Western Ramapo in Rockland County, and in the Long Island village of Bellerose.
The telco already offers FiOS TV in more than 155 New York communities through approved cable franchises.
Additionally, Verizon’s FiOS TV service has been approved in Chesapeake, Va., where it will be offered to about 81,000 additional households. Verizon currently offers the video service to more than 6,400 households in Chesapeake.
* AT&T’s U-verse TV, Internet offerings expand in Ohio
By Traci Patterson
AT&T’s U-verse TV and Internet services are now available to consumers in the Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, areas.
U-verse TV is offered in parts of more than 65 communities, and the company plans to continue reaching even more consumers in Ohio in the future.
* AT&T revises site for small businesses
By Brian Santo
AT&T has revised its Web site for small business customers, adding new features and functions. Additions to the Onward Small Business Web site include the ability to:
* Rate, share and tag articles in the News and Insights section
* Recommend customer stories and case studies for inclusion on the site
* Grade Web-based courses offered through the site
* Suggest topics for new online courses
* Listen to site content – news, customer stories, expert advice, AT&T services, etc. – via text-to-speech technology
* Receive customized content from the site based on previous viewing habits.
In addition, the site has been revised so that it will play on smartphones and other mobile communications devices.
* RCN’s triple play approved in Pa. community
By Traci Patterson
RCN Corp. has been granted a local franchise, allowing the company to bring triple-play services to Slatington Borough in Lehigh Valley, Pa.
With the addition of Slatington Borough, RCN now provides service to 75 Lehigh Valley and other Pennsylvania communities. This local franchise marks the fifth Lehigh Valley community added to RCN’s digital, fiber optic network since last April and the first to be added in 2008, the company said.
* XO speeds up network build
By Brian Santo
Cisco announced that XO Communications has accelerated its deployment of Ethernet-enabled IP services based on the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture.
This expansion features the deployment of new Cisco Ethernet over SONET/SDH (EoS) technology on many of the more than 4,000 Cisco ONS 15454 Multi-Service Provisioning Platforms (MSPPs) currently deployed in its network.
* Ekinops adds new features to Ekinops 360 platform
By Traci Patterson
Ekinops has integrated new features into its Ekinops 360 platform, a carrier-class optical transport platform designed for metro, regional and long-haul optical networks.
The features include tunable lasers, which simplify design and lower operational costs; Raman amplifiers, which increase transmission distances by 50 to 100 kilometers while increasing the output capacity over each fiber; Gigabit rings; Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs); and increased capacity (80, as opposed to 40, supported channels now).
The Ekinops 360 platform is based on a programmable architecture (FPGA) and offers optical transport, DWDM, CWDM, amplification for long haul transmission and multi-protocol aggregation (Ethernet, SONET/SDH, Fibre Channel).
More Broadband Direct:
• NCTA asks that small ops get dual must-carry exemption
• CMC, Motorola hook up on turnkey digital package
• Comcast bulks up HD in Seattle, Spokane
• Suddenlink surpasses 100,000 VoIP subscribers
• Synacor integrates platform into WOW!’s online infrastructure
• Harmonic’s Rhozet to support Panasonic’s AVC HD technology
• OpenTV finds a home in 100M STBs, TVs; picked by Portuguese provider
• Arris announces stock buyback program