D&E picks Motorola, Tut for triple play

D&E Communications, which operates three ILECs in Pennsylvania, said it has chosen Motorola’s access platform and Tut Systems’ digital headend equipment as part of its triple-play rollout in Union County, Pa.

The carrier will use Motorola’s Multi-Service Access Platform, the former Next Level system, to offer video and high-speed data services over ADSL. Officially launched at D&E Digital TV, the service will provide two streams of digital video along with high-speed Internet access, said Scott Sandall, vice president of marketing for D&E. At the headend, D&E will use Tut’s Astria platform, which will compress and process video from various sources before hitting the access network. To the end user, the service will include a 109-channel lineup.

D&E is the 19th largest telco in the U.S and one of the largest independents to announce vendor choices for video. In the initial rollout, the company is staying somewhat conservative and trying to learn as much about the technology as possible.

What we’re primarily doing is testing out the platform," Sandall said. "ADSL gives us some nice extra capabilities."

The access side of the contract is Motorola’s first big telco video win since it acquired Next Level, which made most of its early waves with VDSL-based systems.

In the first market of Lewisburg, Pa., D&E will provide two video streams plus a high-speed data channel. Additionally, the carriers will launch traditional pay-per-view movies and events but hold off on video on demand while it explores the market, Sandall said.

"When we looked at the research we did, two [video] streams seemed to provide some good capability," he said.

D&E, which serves a total of 175,000 access lines, has yet to face any cable telephony competitors but knows they’re lurking. At the same time, it like almost every telco is fighting to recapture revenue from a loss of access lines.

"You can’t just sit there and not do anything," Sandall said.