Harmonic Delivers VOD for Canadian Cable-TV Provider

Harmonic announced that Canadian cable television provider Source Cable has deployed Harmonic’s NSG 9000 HectoQAM in its headend, allowing the cable provider to increase the speed of its Internet/data services and add new video-on-demand (VOD) services. Utilizing the highly scalable nature of HectoQAM, Source Cable can cost-effectively deliver data as well as HD and SD VOD services to its subscribers from a single, unified edgeQAM chassis.

“Our powerful edgeQAM system gives us a leg up on the competition by meeting our subscribers’ insatiable appetite for video-on-demand and high-speed Internet services,” said Darryl Chandler, vice president of operations and general manager at Source Cable. “The flexible and efficient design of Harmonic’s HectoQAM solution will allow us to increase our data, video, and video-on-demand offerings in the future, while maintaining the highest standards of video quality that our subscribers expect.”

To meet this demand for additional data and VOD services, HectoQAM features a modular design with hot-swappable RF-QAM modules, allowing Source Cable to easily grow the number of service groups, and more than quadruple the QAM capacity for existing service groups, without any rewiring or disruption to operations. This straightforward scalability is achieved through a pay-as-you-grow architecture that allows for expansion through firmware licenses as business needs evolve.

“Harmonic’s industry-leading position, with more than 2 million QAM channels shipped worldwide, easily recommended us as a trusted partner for Source Cable,” said Gil Katz, vice president of cable solutions at Harmonic. “This unique installation is the perfect example of how Harmonic’s reliable, scalable edge and access solutions can be used to deliver both high-speed Internet services and a high-quality viewing experience while lowering operating expenses for a small to midsized cable television provider like Source Cable.”

The Harmonic HectoQAM solution delivers up to 648 QAM RF channels of cable TV services, including high-speed Internet, VOD, switched digital video (SDV), or video broadcast. Utilizing a small form factor of 2 RU and low power consumption per QAM channel, HectoQAM provides Source Cable with an extremely dense and flexible solution for streaming content over its network. Utilizing DOCSIS 3.0 and modular CMTS standards for downstream data transmission, the cable television provider can now deliver faster data and Internet services, more channel bundles, and enhanced video and VOD services.

System integration and training for the HectoQAM solution was completed by Capella Telecommunications, a Harmonic distributor and system integrator located in Canada.

“Capella is pleased to continue a long relationship supporting Source Cable by deploying advanced products to meet their customer needs and business requirements,” said Wayne Rabey, vice president of sales at Capella Telecommunications.