Evolution's Expanding DTA Universe
4:40 PM --
Chinese giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. isn't the only vendor making some set-top noise at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week. (See Huawei Takes On US Set-Top Market.)
Centennial, Colo.-based Evolution Broadband LLC , the first vendor ever to win a special waiver of the July 2007 ban on boxes with integrated security, is now seeking an FCC pass on three additional low-cost, Digital Terminal Adapter (DTA) products -- the DMS-2002-CA, the DMS-1004-CA, and the DMS-2002u. (See FCC Believes in Evolution-ary DTAs and Countdown to 'Seven-Oh-Seven'.)
According to info supplied by Evolution, here are a few details about the new entrants.
Comments on those three waiver requests (as well as Huawei's) are due into the FCC by Oct. 8.
Evolution is also trying to get an FCC waiver for a DTA that can display high-definition television signals, but the Commission has yet to act on that request. Cable One Inc. , however, does have the green light to use HD-DTAs in one market in Tennessee. (See Evolution Guns for HD Box Waiver and Cable ONE Snares HD Set-Top Waiver .)
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News
Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to TelcoTV 2009, the telecom industry’s premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy, to be staged in Orlando, Fla., November 10-12. For more information, or to register, click here.
Centennial, Colo.-based Evolution Broadband LLC , the first vendor ever to win a special waiver of the July 2007 ban on boxes with integrated security, is now seeking an FCC pass on three additional low-cost, Digital Terminal Adapter (DTA) products -- the DMS-2002-CA, the DMS-1004-CA, and the DMS-2002u. (See FCC Believes in Evolution-ary DTAs and Countdown to 'Seven-Oh-Seven'.)
According to info supplied by Evolution, here are a few details about the new entrants.
- DMS-2002u: This one's definitely the most interesting of the new batch, at least from a competitive perspective. The DMS-2002u, the company says, incorporates the content protection scheme used by DTAs that operate on Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)- and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT)-based digital cable networks. Motorola's are capable of activating a fixed-key platform called "Privacy Mode;" we're still trying to track down what kind of content protection scheme DTAs on Cisco cable networks will use, but we suspect it's similar to Privacy Mode, or something akin to a stripped-down version of the company's full-fledged PowerKEY conditional access system. (See Comcast's DTAs: Security Optional .)
Evolution says that same unit can also support the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)-based security SmartCards from Conax AS , making them a bit more "universal" than some other DTAs on the market. The idea, the company tells us, is to provide a DTA that not only addressed compatibility with incumbent Cisco and Moto platforms, but also gives MSOs the option to convert to a full DVB-based security system, which is at the heart of Evolution's digital box/headend platform for small and mid-sized MSOs. (See Evolution Thinks Small .)
Evolution says this model's still in the development phase, but the company anticipates a launch in "early 2010," provided all goes well with testing. Once that happens, Evolution would be able to throw its DTAs in the ring, as Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), Mediacom Communications Corp. , and other MSOs that primarily use Moto or Cisco networks use the devices to help power their analog spectrum reclamation strategies. (See Are the DTA Floodgates Opening Up? and Comcast's $1B Bandwidth Plan .)
- DMS-2002-CA: A "size-reduced" version of its current MPEG-2-based, standard-def DTA. We're told that the new one is roughly the size of a BlackBerry device.
- DMS-1004-CA: An MPEG-4 version of the existing MPEG-2 SD DTA. Evolution anticipates taking this one to market with an all-MPEG-4 platform that takes in content from Avail-TVN.
Comments on those three waiver requests (as well as Huawei's) are due into the FCC by Oct. 8.
Evolution is also trying to get an FCC waiver for a DTA that can display high-definition television signals, but the Commission has yet to act on that request. Cable One Inc. , however, does have the green light to use HD-DTAs in one market in Tennessee. (See Evolution Guns for HD Box Waiver and Cable ONE Snares HD Set-Top Waiver .)
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News
Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to TelcoTV 2009, the telecom industry’s premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy, to be staged in Orlando, Fla., November 10-12. For more information, or to register, click here.