Etex Telephone Cooperative Selects Minerva Broadband TV Platform

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
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Etex Hosted Platform to Provide Broadcast TV, Video on Demand and Internet TV at Variable Bit Rates to 40 Members of Texas Lone Star Network (TLSN)

ALVISO, CA — Minerva Networks, a leading provider of carrier-class platforms for the delivery of television services over IP networks, today announced that its new xTVFusion 5 for Broadband TV platform has been selected by Etex Telephone Cooperative — to offer next generation television services to forty (40) members of the Texas Lone Star Network at variable bandwidths as low as 3Mbps.

Etex Telephone Cooperative utilizes both Fiber to the home (FTTH) and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL 2+) architectures to reach over nine thousand (9,000) broadband subscribers. Through the deployment of the Minerva platform in a hosted environment, Etex is embracing advancements in service management software and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology to significantly increase the reach of its television services. With this deployment, Etex’s customers as well as those served by TLSN will be able to subscribe to advanced television services which were previously unavailable due to the bandwidth limitations of the copper infrastructure.

The services will include HD-like broadcast television, digital video recording (DVR), video-on-demand (VOD) and Internet TV. The services will also feature TV widgets for the delivery of RSS news feeds, stocks, weather and traffic information, as well as visual voice mail, caller ID and popular social networking services.

“We chose Minerva because of its proven IPTV track record and its recent breakthroughs in broadband television,” said Danny Kellar, General Manager at Etex. “Minerva is first to market with a robust next-generation Broadband TV delivery solution designed to maximize service reach while preserving a high quality of experience for subscribers.”

“Innovative operators like Etex and the TLSN members can now take advantage of the very same technologies at the core of over-the-top television initiatives, to reach and delight a much broader set of subscribers,” said Mauro Bonomi, CEO of Minerva Networks. “Etex continues to show leadership in innovative thinking and in delivering advanced services to rural America.”

TLSN operates over 3,800 fiber route miles in Texas and New Mexico powered with Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology.