PCCW Selects Harmonic for its MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)Service

PCCW, the incumbent operator in Hong Kong and currently the world's largest IPTV operator with 700,000 subscribers, is deploying Harmonic's new DiviCom Electra 5400 standard definition (SD) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoders for its entire "now TV" channel lineup. This expansion enables PCCW to add services and extend its reach in Hong Kong. Harmonic's Electra 5000 MPEG-2 encoders were also recently implemented at PCCW as part of a channel expansion. The implementation at PCCW also includes Harmonic's NMX Digital Service Manager for service operations and scheduling. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Harmonic said the bandwidth improvements available with H.264 also enable PCCW to significantly increase the number of subscribers that can access the service over the DSL network in comparison to MPEG-2.

"By adding H.264-based services to their lineup, PCCW can further enhance the service by lowering bandwidth requirements for TV programming and thus support on-demand services and additional TV sets," said Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic Inc.

http://www.harmonicinc.com

http://www.pccw.com