SBC Picks Scientific-Atlanta For IPTV Boxes

Scientific-Atlanta will supply IP-based video equipment for SBC Communications Inc.'s Project Lightspeed IP, the telecom carrier has announced. Project Lightspeed is SBC's $4 billion initiative to deploy fiber-optic network access to 18 million households by the end of 2007.

The Scientific-Atlanta deal will allow SBC to ultimately deliver IP-based video, voice, and high-speed Internet access services to the mass market. "This contract award is another important step in building a new, efficient, IP-based video network and we're very pleased to work with Scientific-Atlanta," SBC senior executive vice president for IP operations and services Lea Ann Champion said in a statement. "Our IP-based video services will allow us to offer unique programming, interactivity and functionality to enhance the entertainment experience."

Under the multi-year, $195 million contract, Scientific-Atlanta will supply IP video equipment and professional services to build SBC's central IP video operations center, the "command center" that will monitor all traffic on the Project Lightspeed network. SBC will also use Scientific-Atlanta equipment and expertise in two national IP video super hub offices that will receive satellite feeds and provide advanced video coding (AVC) for standard-definition and high-definition transmission over the network, and 41 video hub offices in metropolitan areas.

"The state-of-the-art IP video super hub offices and IP video hubs we are creating will provide SBC companies with the performance needed to support services on one of the world's most advanced video processing networks," Scientific-Atlanta chairman, president and CEO Jim McDonald said in a statement. "We also look forward to working hand in hand with Alcatel and Microsoft to assist SBC companies with creating and launching an IP video system."

Alcatel inked a five-year, $1.7 billion deal with SBC last October to provide core network access, aggregation and switching equipment and integration services for Project Lightspeed. In November of last year, SBC signed a ten year, $400 million agreement with Microsoft to use its Microsoft TV Internet Protocol Television Edition software platform.