Cox Cable Expands HD with BigBand Switched Digital Video

BigBand Networks Inc. announced that Cox Communications—the nation’s third largest cable operator—has selected its switched digital video solution for use in multiple cable systems—including both Motorola and Scientific Atlanta set-top box environments—and has begun to deploy the system in its Northern Virginia market.

Cox plans to use BigBand’s solution to make the most of its bandwidth, allowing for the significant expansion of its HDTV lineups in markets across the country.

“BigBand’s switched digital video solution gives us the ability to dramatically expand programming—particularly high-definition channels—at a low cost-per-subscriber,” said James Kelso, vice president of video engineering for Cox Communications. “We’re pleased with our tests of the BigBand SDV solution, particularly with the ease with which we’ve been able to integrate it with other components.

Switched Digital Video opens up bandwidth by reducing the number of unwatched channels going through a given node, allowing more advanced services like HDTV.

Cox is the third U.S. cable operator to enlist BigBand’s SDV solution, which the company has deployed commercially since 2005.

“Cox has a stellar record for customer service and satisfaction—winning this operator’s trust to deploy switched digital video is particularly meaningful to us,” said Amir Bassan-Eskenazi, president and CEO of BigBand.