IPTV Deployments Featured Article

Avail Media, Inc. has teamed up with Motorola (News - Alert) to deliver MWAVE (MPEG-4 Wide Area Video Entertainment), a combination of equipment and services that will enable IPTV service providers to launch new entertainment services over their high speed data networks.

 

MWAVE brings together elements required to launch IPTV (News - Alert) entertainment services, and MPEG-4 content distribution is provided through Avail Media's Avail Connect service, which originates at Avail Media’s super headend uplinks in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Toronto, Canada.

 

Avail Media’s service is combined with elements of Motorola’s IPTV portfolio, including set-tops, encoders, systems integration services, and program management for video hub office components, including third-party middleware and digital rights management.

 

According to Avail Media, through MWAVE, operators can transport company’s more than 200 standard definition (SD) channels and more than 20 channels of high definition (HD) content for access to launch a suite of television services without the “capital expense and time constraints of building a complete video headend.”

 

Company officials explained that since providers, adopting MWAVE, need to only construct their local video hub offices where local content—such as off-air channels, public, educational, and government (PEG) channels—and emergency alert services are merged with the supplied national linear channels to construct a comprehensive channel lineup.

 

Jon Romm (News - Alert), chief operating officer at Avail Media, said in a statement that at Avail Media, “we have made a major commitment to secure transport rights to North America's most sought-after content and to establish a world- class national video processing facility for distribution to Motorola subscribers.”

 

He also added that “We're excited about the opportunity to work with Motorola to speed the rollout of IPTV networks in North America.”

 

MWAVE, according to Doug Means, corporate vice president and general manager of Home and Networks Mobility business at Motorola, provides an excellent mix of equipment and services that allows service providers to continue to accelerate their IPTV network launch plans while controlling capex and opex levels.

 

He also pointed out that by adding MWAVE to our IPTV portfolio, his company can offer customers the option of either building their own headend or choosing to use a hosted service from Avail, and added, “Both options provide access to our video solutions expertise and best in class set top solutions.”