Next Level Communications, which claims to be the leader in TV-over-DSL deployments, has demonstrated new equipment to many of the world's largest telephone companies at the Full Service-VDSL (FS-VDSL) committee meeting in Toronto.

Next Level's new Broadband Services Access Multiplexer - Single Shelf Enclosure (BSAM-SSE) will make it cheaper and easier than ever for telephone companies to deliver television services over their existing networks, without discarding existing equipment. The BSAM-SSE is a simple overlay to existing equipment telcos use to deliver local phone service that allows delivery of television and high-speed Internet services. This addition to Next Level's platform is expected to be particularly appealing to US incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) like the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). Due to a recent ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) they are no longer required to share hybrid copper-fiber networks used to deliver broadband services with other service providers. Under the FCC's rule changes, telephone companies will be able to use the BSAM-SSE to deliver a voice, video and data bundle more cost-effectively than was previously possible.

An official release informs that the FCC's ruling and the FS-VDSL's standardisation effort should be significant catalysts for 'telco TV'. As voice revenues plateau, an increasing number of major telephone companies will turn to digital television for both additional revenue and as the most effective means to defend their subscribers from cable competition. The technology that will allow telephone companies to deliver cable-competitive video services over their own networks is available and proven, they need only deploy it.

The BSAM-SSE's compact size -- it measures approximately 1 foot long, 2 feet wide and 3.5 feet high -- also allows telephone companies to save considerable costs on new TV and broadband service deployments, because the equipment can be bolted onto their existing cabinets. Instead of incurring additional "right-of-way" (ROW) costs, which include the expenses associated with getting municipal approval and actually acquiring the space to build new neighborhood facilities to deliver these services, the BSAM-SSE allows telcos to utilise already existing facilities. Often, the costs of fiber and power required to serve new equipment are dwarfed by the ROW-associated costs that telcos must assume for new deployments. The BSAM's small size also makes it a perfect fit for the smaller equipment cabinets characteristic of European telephone networks.