SureWest enhances its copper bond with IPTV

SureWest may be a pioneer in rolling out Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) services, but as an ILEC, it also wants to be able to offer new products over its sizeable copper network infrastructure. Following the debut of its broadband via bonded ADSL2+ service for high speed data and voice last fall, SureWest now plans to deliver IPTV to about 25,000 subscribers over copper lines in its Sacramento, Calif., market.

SureWest currently provides IPTV via its Fiber to the Premises network, while offering only voice and data services to ADSL2+ customers. Offering IPTV over copper is not necessarily new for SureWest, as it has offered the service to approximately 2,500 customers via traditional DSL. To enable IPTV over ADSL2+, SureWest is leveraging its ongoing investment in MPEG-4 video encoding, new Minerva middleware and the Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol television (IPTV) software platform. In addition to the Sacramento market, SureWest is looking at the possibility of bringing the Mediaroom service to its Kansas City market it gained through its acquisition of Everest Broadband.

For more:
- Here's the official release
- Telephony has this article

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