Joint Effort with Comcast Media Center Provides a Cost-Effective Solution for
Managing Access Control and Rolling Out New Interactive Services
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc.
(NYSE: MOT) today announced the availability of a centralized content
authorization service in a joint effort with Comcast Media Center (CMC), a
business unit of Comcast Cable. The new service will allow small to mid-sized
operators, including affiliates of the CMC's Headend In The Sky (HITS)
service, to offer a full suite of advanced services, such as video on demand,
DVR and interactive program guides, without the expense of owning and
operating a Digital Access Controller (DAC).
The announcement was made at the Society of Cable Telecommunications
Engineers Cable-Tec Expo (Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio),
where Motorola is exhibiting its solutions for broadband cable operators at
Booth #6086.
The new centralized service is offered as an upgrade to Motorola's
existing National Authorization Service (NAS) or for new system launches.
Primarily designed for operators serving rural or sparsely populated areas,
the service provides a digital system that is simple, reliable and economical.
Offering a viable two-way communication path for interactive services, the
service builds upon the proven digital cable technology that Motorola has
supplied to operators for years for the secure delivery of access control.
The service will operate from the CMC in Denver, Colorado and communicate via
Virtual Private Network (VPN) to all served headends.
"Large scale operators have the capital to manage a DAC system, but our
goal is to offer the same access control features to operators of any scale,
and to offer consumers advanced television features no matter where they
live," said Doug Means, Motorola corporate vice president and general manager,
digital media solutions. "Working with the Comcast Media Center gives us the
chance to provide authorization and set top management services from a
centrally located DAC, and gives operators the flexibility to market advanced
television services without needing to own and operate their own equipment."
"Comcast Media Center and Motorola have been working to create the right
package of operating enhancements that will enable our HITS affiliates to
augment their digital video service with advanced services, using the same
platform," stated Gary Traver, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer for the CMC. "Equally important, we have accomplished this while
making it affordable to independent system operators serving smaller markets
across the country."
The new service is implemented with a redundant design that delivers set-
top addressability via an Internet Protocol (IP) VPN connection to local
headends. Motorola offers deployment and program management services to help
operators migrate from NAS or integrate the new service with their existing
system.
About Comcast Media Center
Comcast Media Center (CMC), a business unit of Comcast Cable, provides a
total content management solution, enabling a single form of content to reach
its target audience through multiple delivery platforms served from one
central location. The CMC's Content Delivery Network offers global
transmission via satellite and terrestrial fiber optics, VOD and streaming
distribution capabilities. CMC's Content Management Network offers broadcast
quality studio, mobile and post production services, origination services for
linear TV networks and live events, HDTV production and origination and
quality control and media management services, including encoding and storage.
Its Affiliate Services Network includes the HITS (Headend In The Sky) digital
platform. Founded in 1994, HITS currently delivers over 150 digital audio and
video services to more than 3,000 cable system headends. More information
about the CMC is available at: http://www.comcastmediacenter.com .
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA; CMCSK) ( http://www.comcast.com ) is
the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications
products and services. With 21.5 million cable customers, 7.4 million high-
speed Internet customers, and 1.2 million voice customers, Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband
cable networks and in the delivery of programming content.
The Company's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network, G4, AZN
Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets. The
Company also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major
holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia
76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.
Comcast Class A common stock and Class A Special common stock trade on The
NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively.
About Motorola
Motorola is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides
seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems
and wireless networks. In your home, auto, workplace and all spaces in
between, seamless mobility means you can reach the people, things and
information you need, anywhere, anytime. Seamless mobility harnesses the power
of technology convergence and enables smarter, faster, cost-effective and
flexible communication. Motorola had sales of US $31.3 billion in 2004. For
more information: http://www.motorola.com .
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent &
Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their
respective owners.
SOURCE Motorola
back to top
