Scientific Atlanta has announced that new video-on-demand (VOD) transport cards for its Prisma IP multi-service digital transport platform can deliver a least-cost solution for cable operators as they expand VOD rollouts across existing cable networks. The VOD transport cards will enable cable operators to leverage a low-cost, low-complexity, point-to-point sub-system architecture. This will optimise the options available to deliver on-demand services.

An official release informs that as operators move to centralise their VOD servers, flexibility within the transport system is a key requirement for successful delivery of video-on-demand service to the network's QAMs. To deliver this flexibility, the Prisma IP VOD cards support Gigabit Ethernet streams, plus ASI and SDI formats. This multi-data-format support minimises the cable operators cost for translation at the network edge.

US cable television operators are rapidly increasing the availability of VOD services, while, at the same time, experimenting with different ways of packaging and promoting the service, reports In-Stat/MDR. The high-tech market research firm reported that as of mid-2003, approximately 40 per cent of all US cable TV systems were offering VOD. In addition almost four million cable TV subscribers were regularly using the service to watch movies, packaged premium programming, and even "free" shows and events.

This research forecasts that worldwide subscribers to cable VOD services are projected to nearly triple from about five million at the end of 2003, to almost 14 million in 2007. The Prisma IP VOD cards can deliver the flexibility, cost-efficiency and revenue potential to enable operators to capitalise on this opportunity.

The release adds that the Prisma IP intelligent transport system provides the bandwidth efficiency and network flexibility to enable operators to support a wide variety of video, data and voice services to both residential and business customers on a single platform. To optimally match the demands of the variety of customer applications, the platform's three scaleable sub-systems include point-to-point transport, Multiprotocol Label Switching/Resilient Packet Ring (MPLS/RPR), and active Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM). The Prisma IP platform was jointly developed by Scientific-Atlanta and Luminous Networks.