EchoStar Unveils ViP-TV

[Scott Greczkowski]

EchoStar Unveils ViP-TV, One of the Most Comprehensive IPTV Transport Platforms on the Market

Offers Distributors the Ability to Deliver up to 300 Programming Channels, Including 40 Channels of HD & Local Broadcast Networks

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Oct. 22, 2007 – EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its subsidiary, EchoStar FSS Corporation (EFSSC), today announced the launch of ViP-TV™ service, through which EFFSC has the ability to transport over 300 channels of secure broadcast quality popular television programming via satellite to Telco, private and rural cable operators, municipalities and master planned community video providers that have obtained rights for distribution of programming over their wire-line networks. ViP-TV is EFSSC’s turn-key solution for wholesale multi-channel content transport and distribution, and offers customers affordable, scalable and aggregated MPEG-4 Internet protocol encapsulated radio and television programming channels from a high-powered Ku-band satellite.

ViP-TV’s suite of channels includes ViP-Premier™, which offers over 100 channels of the most popular television programming, ViP-HD™, which boasts 40 channels of industry-leading high definition programming; ViP-Movies™, a menu of 40 of the most popular movie services; ViP-Latino™, offering 30 of the top-rated Spanish-language programming services; and the ViP-International™ programming package, providing over 30 programming channels in 10 different languages.

The ViP-TV service is also offered in connection with transport of local broadcast networks from more than 165 local designated market areas (DMAs) currently provided by EchoStar to over 1,000 cable and Telco systems in standard definition. VIP-TV also offers transport of high definition local broadcast networks in over 30 local DMAs.

EFSSC’s ViP-TV delivers its service using a high-performance, high-powered Ku Band satellite with full continental United Sates coverage, so that the service can be rapidly deployed and is low cost to maintain. In addition, EFSSC offers full-service design, engineering and installation of head-end equipment together with its award-winning ViP™ series set top box technology and applications.

“ViP-TV is one of the most comprehensive video iP transport and distribution platforms available in the marketplace,” said Michael Kelly, executive vice president of Echostar Fixed Satellite Services. “More than just programming, it is a premier service buoyed by industry-leading technology, service and support. With over 12 years of experience in the transport and distribution business, EchoStar can create a true end-to-end solution offering everything from set top box technology to satellite distribution to service and customer support.”

For more information about EchoStar, visit EchoStar Communications Corporation. For more information on ViP-TV, visit www.echostarviptv.com.

 

[rad]

So will this new service be using the existing E* service to deliver this service or using a totally different infrastructure for distribution? I'm guessing that it's totally seperate since EFSSC offering this service.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have no clue what this press release means. And the website listed in the article is not up yet, so go figure.

 

[rcdallas]

Hopefully it's nothing like dishonline......<cough>

 

[digiblur]

I bet this is what 121 and or 105 will be used for. Probably DVB-S2 also.

 

[harshness]

This sounds like a TCP/IP delivery solution. Perhaps this is a smaller scale version of AT&T's HomeZone configuration.

 

[harshness]

I bet this is what 121 and or 105 will be used for. Probably DVB-S2 also.

FSS satellites don't qualify as "high-powered Ku-band".

 

[DStroyer]

Maybe it's an affordable way for small cable companies to upgrade their systems without having to sell out to Comcast or Time Warner?

 

[cmcnabb]

Looks like it is marketing existing Dish Network stuff to small cable corps. The channel line up on the website has nothing not already available to those with the Dish Everything package.

 

[TNGTony]

Looks like an IP system to me using the standard Dish stuff programming redistribution!

 

[digiblur]

I don't know the specs off hand but 121 and 105 work great for normal sized KU dishes.

 

[diu.steve]

Website up

EchoStar ViP-TV™ website is up.

ViP-TV is delivered to your system head end, master planned community, or multiple dwelling unit via EchoStar’s high performance, high powered Ku band satellite located at the 85 degree orbital position providing optimal continental United Sates coverage.
ViP-TV offers the most comprehensive iPTV transport platform in the market servicing programming distributors, cable operators and Telco TV providers.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes its a service much like the HITS service, except the Echostar service uses encapsolated IP / MPEG4 to deliver the content.

 

[HokieEngineer]

I think this line off the website kinda sums up where the programming is coming from:

"ViP-TV is delivered to your system head end, master planned community, or multiple dwelling unit via EchoStar’s high performance, high powered Ku band satellite located at the 85 degree orbital position providing optimal continental United Sates coverage"

 

[digiblur]

AMC2/AMC16...forgot about that lease.

 

[HokieEngineer]

Ha! Looks like we all found the info at once. Looking at the AMC-16 specs, 24 Ku band transponders.

The interesting thing is they have been testing Harmonic's IPTV encoders over on 148. I was wondering WTF that was all about.

Heres a link to the datasheet of the MV-100.
http://www.harmonicinc.com/view_collateral.cfm?ID=2264

 

[digiblur]

You aren't the only one that thought the MV 100 test EPG entries were odd.

 

[rcdallas]

Man I was way off course here. I got the idear now.

 

[Pepper]

If this can be delivered to a headend, no doubt with not much modification it could be delivered directly to the home as a competitor to Dish Network once that is no longer owned by Echostar.

 

[digiblur]

If this can be delivered to a headend, no doubt with not much modification it could be delivered directly to the home as a competitor to Dish Network once that is no longer owned by Echostar.

I see someone is looking at the big picture.

I'm also thinking this is the big pause button.

EDIT: After more reading on the site... it looks to be pretty commercial driven. Two antennas? Hmm... It could quite possibly be the system they were talking about. Maybe adapt it to residential use later?

ViP-Transport-Only (ViP-TO) provides customers with the option to receive a complete program line-up as a content only delivery service. Two small antennas and one rack of International Data Casting (IDC) DBS-2 commercial receivers and a VPN back channel are all that is required for a network operator to bring superior quality content to their own integrated IPTV system. The IDC receivers handle conditional access decryption and IP-multicast encapsulation configuration.