U. S. WEST Unveils ""HDTV-Net"" To Deliver High-Bandwidth Video To Broadcasters, Production Houses
U S WEST has unveiled HDTV-Net, an end-to-end, fiber-based video service that delivers the highest quality uncompressed video signal available today. The service is targeted at network and local television broadcasters, production studios and large businesses that need to transmit next-generation High Definition TV signals from remote locations. HDTV-Net gives customers 270 Mbps of guaranteed high-capacity bandwidth over fiber-optic facilities, and is designed for one-way, point-to-point transport of video signals. Today, the bandwidth required to support broadcast quality video is 155 Mbps - or 2,500 times that needed for a traditional telephone call. But with the arrival of HDTV, the bandwidth requirement almost doubles that of a standard video broadcast. The demand for HDTV services is being fueled by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate that broadcasters in cities including Denver, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis/St. Paul deploy HDTV technology and begin to transmit exclusively in that format by December 1, 1999. ""U S WEST is uniquely qualified to provide advanced services like HDTV-Net to customers in our region because of our expertise in delivering high-bandwidth services to customers over large, secure SONET, ATM, Frame Relay and IP networks,'' said Joe Zell, President of U S WEST Interprise Networking. The launch of HDTV-Net follows a successful technical trial of the service last month in Seattle with KIRO-TV, which provided viewers with the first-ever HDTV broadcast of the city's popular 'SEAFAIR' community fair. HDTV-Net is the latest offering in U S WEST's suite of dedicated Private Line services, which provide high-speed bandwidth solutions to medium- and large-sized businesses. U S WEST is an industry leader in delivering high-bandwidth, digital transport services, including Private Line, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Cell Relay, Frame Relay, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and ISDN. About U S WEST U S WEST provides a full range of telecommunications services - including wireline, wireless PCS, data networking, directory and information services - to more than 25 million customers nationally and in 14 Western and Midwestern states. More information about U S WEST can be found on the Internet at http://www.uswest.com.