North State Communications Selects TANDBERG Encoding and Transcoding for IPTV Headend

High density and superior picture quality video processing system to deliver over 250 channels of SD and HD programming via MPEG-4 AVC

ATLANTA — TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson group (NASDAQ:ERIC), today announced its award-winning iPlex™ IPTV video processing platform has been selected by North State Communications for its new IPTV headend. In order to maintain full control of its content North State Communications elected to build a full headend and receive television programming directly from broadcasters for MPEG-4 AVC encoding or transcoding. At launch, the TANDBERG headend will deliver over 250 channels of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) programs to North State subscribers. The complete MPEG-4 AVC IPTV solution yields significant bandwidth savings by delivering content at the highest image quality and the lowest possible bit rates.

One of the nation’s 20 largest communications companies, North State provides services primarily in a 600-square-mile area located in the Piedmont Triad Region of North Carolina in and around the communities of High Point, Thomasville, Archdale, Randleman, Jamestown, Trinity and portions of Greensboro and Kernersville. Services will be delivered from the new TANDBERG headend to the North State subscriber base shortly. 50 of the channels delivered will be in HD.

“Control over the programming we offer our subscribers is extremely important to us and that required us to deploy a full headend. We selected the TANDBERG Television solution because of its superior picture quality, high density and leading technology position among headends,” said Royster Tucker III, President & COO, North State Communications.

The iPlex UltraCompression HD and SD IPTV headend is based on TANDBERG Television’s next-generation AVC platform and provides a step change in digital video distribution. By combining a high density platform with enhanced MPEG-4 AVC encoding and transcoding technology, the iPlex leads the industry in picture quality and video performance. A flexible video processing platform that offers the industry’s most complete IPTV headend solution, the TANDBERG iPlex includes MPEG-2 SD encoding, MPEG-4 AVC HD and SD encoding, MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 transcoding, MPEG-2 transrating, and picture-in-picture (PIP) service generation in a high density, NEBS-certified, telco-designed chassis.

“As operators seek to provide each subscriber with a more personalized television experience, the solutions deployed must support the applications of today and some that haven’t been created yet,” said Al Nuñez, President of the Americas, TANDBERG Television. “The iPlex platform provides these operators with a flexible telco-class solution that incorporates redundancy, high density and scalability that’s part of a complete IPTV solution.”

Dascom Systems Group of Woodbury, Minnesota is providing the design, equipment specification, systems integration, and training to North State Communications for its TANDBERG Television IPTV headend.