PCCW Selects Harmonic to Power New H.264 Video Service

January 31, 2007 - Harmonic today announced that PCCW is deploying the new DiviCom Electra 5400 standard definition MPEG-4 AVC encoders for its entire now TV channel lineup.

This expansion enables PCCW, one of the largest IPTV operators with more than 700,000 subscribers, to add services and extend its reach in Hong Kong. Harmonic's Electra 5000 MPEG-2 encoders were also recently implemented at PCCW as part of a channel expansion.

The now TV service, launched in 2003, is part of PCCW's quadruple platform offering that includes telephony, broadband Internet access and mobile services. The addition of new channels and transition to an on-demand viewing paradigm are driving PCCW to implement the Harmonic H.264-based compression solution which can support more bandwidth-intensive services and multiple television sets. According to Harmonic, bandwidth improvements available with H.264 also enable PCCW to significantly increase the number of subscribers that can access the service over the DSL network in comparison to MPEG-2.

"The Harmonic Electra 5400 encoders deliver the performance and picture quality we needed for our new H.264 service," said Dominic Leung, Managing Director, Television & Content at PCCW. "As we continue to expand our now TV service and offer more programming, video-on-demand and interactive gaming, our video network must be flexible, scalable and more efficient. Harmonic's high performance video headend solutions make it possible to better utilize the available bandwidth for these new services, opening up new revenue opportunities and enabling PCCW to provide a more compelling service to our subscribers."

"PCCW is an IPTV innovator that continues to lead the way in delivering high quality video services via the telecom network," said Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic Inc. "By adding H.264-based services to their lineup, PCCW can further enhance the service by lowering bandwidth requirements for TV programming and thus support on-demand services and additional TV sets. The density of the Electra 5400 platform offers additional cost savings benefits and the flexibility to easily scale the service."