BigBand Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: BBND) is figuring heavily into the switched digital video (SDV) strategy of Cox Communications Inc. after the MSO selected the vendor's platform in multiple systems, starting with Northern Virginia, where Cox serves about 240,000 basic cable subscribers.

James Kelso, Cox's vice president of video engineering, confirmed the MSO also plans to introduce SDV in its Phoenix, Ariz., and Orange County, Calif., markets. BigBand's technology will play a central role in those areas as well, Kelso says.

The Orange County rollout will be significant, because it will be the first SDV deployment for BigBand in the Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) digital set-top environment. All of the vendor's previous installments -- with Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) and Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) -- have been for systems based on the Scientific Atlanta digital platform.

The Phoenix deployment will also carry some industry import. Cox has about 961,000 basic subscribers there and will be the first MSO to roll out SDV in an "open" manner, as it expects to mix in edge QAMs from vendors other than BigBand.

The potential for such open architectures as well as next-gen "universal" edge QAMs -- designed to share capacity among broadcast digital video, video-on-demand, and even IP-based Docsis applications -- has attracted a large group of suppliers. (See Universal Edge QAM Market Heats Up.)

Kelso would not say which QAM vendors would be part of the Phoenix SDV deployment, but noted that BigBand, SA, Motorola, and Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq: HLIT) are among Cox's suppliers of edge QAM gear. Because Phoenix is based on SA's digital video platform, SA-made edge QAMs would appear to be the most logical choice.

Although Cox is looking to make the edge QAM an interchangeable component, BigBand will serve as the foundation for the MSO's SDV deployments going forward. In addition to the edge QAM, BigBand's SDV architecture also includes its Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR) and servers that interface with set-tops and receive channel change commands.

"We don't intend to have more than one backoffice for switched digital video," Kelso says.

As for Northern Virginia, Cox intends to launch SDV commercially to subscribers there in less than 30 days. Sources familiar with that market say Cox originally awarded the SDV deployment to SA but later opted for BigBand.

Kelso and BigBand officials would not comment on vendor selection activities in Northern Virginia, but Kelso did commend BigBand for getting SDV up and going quickly in that market. He says it took BigBand only six weeks to get the system installed and turned on with "friendlies." To Page 2



"We asked for a no fuss, let's-get-this-done type of approach, and it came out just that way," Kelso says.

SDV is considered a bandwidth saver because channels in the switched tier are streamed only when a customer in a given service group selects it for viewing. Cox has not publicly defined what channels will be placed in the switched tier in Northern Virginia, but it will use SDV to free up space for more high-definition content. In June, speaking at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) Cable-Tec Expo, Cox president Pat Esser said his company expects to have enough capacity this year to offer 50 HDTV channels. (See Fretting Over HD.)

Spare capacity could also come in handy this fall, when Cox's Orange County system begins to test a service that will offer four ABC prime-time shows -- Desperate Housewives, Lost, Ugly Betty, and Grey's Anatomy -- via VOD the day after they originally air on the network. Digital subs will be able to watch those shows on-demand for free, but won't be able to fast-forward through the ads.

How much an operator can "oversubscribe" the system with SDV is dependent on variables such as service group sizes and the popularity of programs that are available on the switched tier. On average, MSOs are using an oversubscription model of two-to-one, according to Biren Sood, vice president and manager of BigBand's cable video business unit.

While most SDV implementations gravitate toward service groups of 500 set-tops, operators can squeeze more bandwidth optimization out of their SDV deployments as they reduce those service groups to 250 set-tops or less, Sood explains.

Although Cox has already selected three markets for SDV, the "vast majority" of the MSO's systems don't require the technology in the near-term, Kelso says. But, "you'll see switched all over the place" in about three to four years, he predicts.

That will be good news for edge QAM suppliers and SDV system vendors like Motorola, Arris Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRS), C-COR Corp. (Nasdaq: CCBL), and Tandberg Television .

The deal with Cox did help BigBand on Wall Street, as shares rose $0.81 (9.03%) to $9.88 in midday trading Wednesday.

BigBand shares have been on a rollercoaster ride of late, declining steeply after the company missed some second-quarter targets, coupled with investors who remain concerned that BigBand has so far been unable to secure a spot in some early SDV tech trials at Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK). (See BigBand's After-Hours Free Fall , Comcast Taps Arris for Edge QAM Initiative , and Comcast Puts SDV Vendors to the Test.)

Despite those concerns, BigBand has clearly taken the lead on SDV deployments with cable operators. Not counting new installments with Cox, BigBand says cable systems with 6.5 million homes passed have deployed its SDV technology.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News