SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Sept. 10, 2009 — Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Deutsche Telekom AG, one of the world's leading telecommunications service providers, has selected Harmonic's recently introduced DiviCom Electra® 8000 universal broadcast encoder to expand the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) HD video service to its T-Home Entertain subscribers throughout Germany. With this deployment, T-Home Entertain can offer its subscribers the largest number of HD channels in Germany, a significant competitive advantage. As service provider for Deutsche Telekom AG, MTI is responsible for the contribution of video signals from its Munich/Ismaning site where the company operates its compression equipment.
Deutsche Telekom selected the Electra 8000, the world's first 1-RU encoder with multi-resolution, multi-standard, multi-service and multi-channel capabilities, because of its unrivalled versatility, enhanced video quality and significantly improved bandwidth efficiency.
"Harmonic's digital video solutions combine the best feature set with the highest HD quality," said Dieter Engel, Senior Vice President at Deutsche Telekom AG. "With the new Electra 8000, we can further enhance the HD service for our subscribers and also put in place a scalable, dense and power-efficient platform. The Electra 8000 delivers a significant reduction in bit-rates for our T-Home service, which allows us to extend subscriber reach, while also providing higher video quality."
"With the increasing availability and uptake of HD content in Europe, Harmonic is working with new and existing customers, such as Deutsche Telekom, to expand their HD services," said Arnaud Perrier, Senior Manager of Encoder Product Marketing at Harmonic Inc. "The fact that these customers are selecting Electra encoders is indicative of the versatility and technical excellence of our compression systems to enable more advanced services and significantly improve video quality while consuming considerably less bandwidth."
A number of cable, satellite and telco service providers in North America and Europe have selected the Electra 8000 for SD MPEG-2, HD MPEG-2 and HD MPEG-4 video services.
The Electra 8000 provides up to four standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) channels of superior quality constant bit-rate (CBR) or variable bit-rate (VBR) video using either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC encoding, and can reduce bit-rates by 20 percent. The Electra 8000 also features integrated statistical multiplexing and a built-in broadcast quality up/down converter for differentiated services such as an HD broadcast of the premium SD lineup. This groundbreaking architecture, which can be easily upgraded with a variety of firmware options, eases operational requirements of density and power efficiency, and facilitates the launch of new value-added video services.
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About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the leading integrated telecommunications companies worldwide. In around 50 countries the Group sets standards in terms of the "connected life and work" vision. The company offers its customers the full range of telecommunications and IT products and services from a single source — be it mobile communications, fixed-network telephony, broadband Internet or complex information and communications technology solutions (ICT). Further information is available at www.telekom.com.
About MTI
MTI Teleport München GmbH is an infrastructure service provider for a number of national and international broadcasters and program platforms. The MTI-owned state-of-the-art optical fibre network covering the distance of 2.700 km, connects all relevant German program platforms, broadcasters and play-out service providers, as well as numerous sports and event venues. The transmissions are most often accomplished in transparent standards (HD with 1,485 Gbit/s and SD with 270 Mbit/s) to allow contribution in the highest studio quality.
About Harmonic Inc.
Harmonic Inc. is redefining video delivery with the industry's most powerful solutions for delivering live and on-demand video to TVs, PCs and mobile devices. Harmonic's 20 years of technical innovation and market leadership enable the company to offer a unique and comprehensive solution portfolio—including encoding, transcoding, content preparation, stream processing, asset management, edge processing and delivery. Broadcast, cable, Internet, mobile, satellite and telecom service providers around the world choose Harmonic's IP-based digital video, software, and broadband edge and access solutions. Using these award-winning and industry-leading solutions, operators can reduce costs and differentiate their services by offering consumers a higher quality, personalized multi-screen experience.
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with R&D, sales and system integration centers worldwide. The company's customers, including many of the world's largest communications providers, deliver services in virtually every country. Visit www.harmonicinc.com for more information.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to: further enhancing HD service, putting in place a scalable, dense and power-efficient platform, and increasing availability and uptake of HD content in Europe.
Our expectations and beliefs regarding the capabilities of the Electra 8000 encoder and its benefits for Deutsche Telekom may not materialize, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its recent Reports filed on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Harmonic does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.
EDITOR'S NOTE – Product and company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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