VT.c unveils single channel encoder

If the most effective video, like all politics as Tip O’Neil once said, is local, VideoTele.com may have come up with a relatively easy solution for telcos. The company, which is a division of Tut Systems, this week officially unveiled its M2-10 line of single channel encoders and decoders for delivering local video content. The line, which has been quietly sold for a couple of months, was launched at the U.S. Telecom show in Las Vegas.

The flagship product in that line is the M2-10E (E for encoder), a low-cost video transport module that sits in a single shelf and encodes MPEG-2 video over IP networks. That’s paired with the M2-10D (decoder) and the M2-10SD (software decoder) for viewing on a PC. When integrated with the company’s Astria digital headend solution, the M2-10 family allows telcos to deliver local programming over their DSL networks.

"It’s a great way to differentiate yourself from satellite," said Bob Noonan, vice president of global sales for VideoTel.com.

TCT West, a telco based in Basin, Wyo., is the first carrier to deploy the solution and is using it to show local sports and community events.

Initially, VT.c is supporting MPEG-2 video and MPEG-1 audio encoding over an Ethernet WAN interface. However, the company is prepared to implement MPEG- 4 or Windows Media 9 video encoding as those two formats are rolled out, Noonan said.

"We’ll support whatever the market demands," he said.