At IBC, Cisco announced that Virgin Media, an entertainment and communications company based in the UK, has chosen Cisco to support its Internet Protocol (IP) TV distribution platform and help upgrade its legacy digital TV infrastructure.
Virgin Media will deploy Cisco Digital Video Headend technology in all of its regional and central content distribution facilities to enable growth in SD and HDTV services. Deployed across Virgin Media’s national fiber-optic network, Cisco IP core and edge network technologies will provide high-speed distribution between the central and regional headends and support delivery to Virgin Media’s high-speed access network.
The upgraded TV distribution platform will be extensively based on Cisco’s IP network core, edge routing, switching, digital video headend solutions and system management and monitoring. The project, managed by Cisco, includes installation, full system integration, the priming of third-party elements and support provided by the Cisco Advanced Video Services Group.
On completion, the new TV platform at Virgin Media will be capable of delivering HD services to more than 12.6 million UK homes.
