France Telecom's GlobeCast Launches IPTV Super Headend

GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom, has launched an IPTV Super Headend capable of aggregating hundreds of television signals from around the globe in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and providing IP encapsulation and retransmission of content via satellite for distribution to "local" IPTV headends across North America. GlobeCast has opened a new Technical Operations Center (TOC) in Miami, where it will base its operations.


All current and future IPTV services, including IPTVComplete - a joint offering with Eagle Broadband providing more than 200 channels via IP video - will originate from the new TOC in Miami, situated at GlobeCast's existing 85,000 square foot digital broadcast complex.


GlobeCast said it is now able to deliver and manage a wide range of IP-based Content Management Services, including IPTV. Technical capabilities at the TOC enable the use of multiple compression technologies and allow compatibility with multiple middleware providers.


The TOC's throughput capacity of the uplink infrastructure exceeds data rates used in most C-Band, Ku-Band and Ka-Band satellite services. The uplink multiplexing system provides an advanced Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) Conditional Access System (CAS) scrambling in addition to the broadcast industry's standard Conditional Access systems. This technology, Advanced Encryption System (AES) enables secure and reliable distribution of data and/or video services to be downlinked, and multicast to commercial and residential subscribers from one or more digital headends.
http://www.globecast.com