Kingston Communications Leads British Invasion
of Interactive Multimedia Broadband Services
When it comes to witnessing a display of the new world of technological convergence in action,
all eyes in Europe are directed to the Yorkshire city of Hull, where residents have been enjoying
such next generation multimedia services as video on demand and high speed Internet access
over existing copper telephone lines.
The residential offering marks Europe's first asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL)-based
interactive digital television service.
Independent telecommunications service provider Kingston Communications (HULL) PLC
deploys the full broadband entertainment services package to its customers using Newbridge
Networks' 3dSL digital media distribution system. The system also enables rapid rollout of the
service via Kingston's 14 local exchanges. Through it, Kingston is delivering services at up to
4.5 Mb/s -- producing images that are sharper and more vivid than digital television with
CD-quality sound transmitted at speeds 150 times faster than standard analog computer
modems.
Since the technology literally splits the bandwidth, Kingston's customers can use their phones,
send e-mail and watch their favorite TV show on a desktop computer or TV set, simultaneously, over the same phone line.
"We're offering not only just fast Internet, video on demand and digital TV, but a full suite of services deliverable over our existing network,"
explains Steve Maine, Chief Executive of the Kingston Group. "In short, we have developed a market-leading broadband Internet portal for
our customers."
Britannia Rules
Kingston's residential customer base of 155,000 subscribers in the Hull area network have access to
digital multichannel broadcast television, video on demand, fast Internet access, e-mail, and local news,
information and shopping. Following a recent agreement with British Sky Broadcasting, Kingston has
made the same multimedia and entertainment services available to its 170,000 residential customers
within its East Yorkshire network area. Under this alliance, Kingston will operate and provide the network
and ADSL infrastructure by which the services are offered, while BSkyB contributes toward the content,
management and marketing of those services.
"By adopting the Newbridge 3dSL solution, Kingston becomes Europe's first operator to exploit its
investment in its existing copper plant to its full potential. Now it can cost-effectively expand its service
offerings and aggressively compete with cable operators," explains Brian Keating, Executive Vice
President of Broadband Solutions and Global Marketing, Newbridge Networks.
"3dSL removes the hurdles that European carrier companies like Kingston have faced in trying to deliver
interactive, multimedia broadband services to the residential market," Keating added.
In addition to leveraging previously untapped resources from the last mile of its existing copper network
between customer residences and local exchanges, Kingston is poised "to offer a range of services far in
advance of other operators," says Maine.
"Already our 256 kb/s upstream path outpaces any other service currently available."
IP Multicast Crucial
Following a six-month trial, which successfully proved the concept of delivering multimedia services over a conventional copper telephone
line, Kingston partnered with Newbridge to access the Company's 3dSL technology along with its expertise in ATM and ability to "incorporate
IP flexibility and intelligence, specifically, IP multicast," says Kingston's Matt Child.
"IP multicast offers us a tremendously efficient way of organizing bandwidth, which is ideal for distributing broadcast TV," explains Child, who
serves as Managing Director of both Kingston Vision, which runs and manages the broadband network, and its service arm, Kingston
Interactive Television.
"We send the data stream out only once from the head-end to the local exchanges over the backbone infrastructure. IP multicast ensures it
is carried over the local copper telephone connection to every subscriber who requests that particular service," explained Child.
By comparison, in a conventional ATM network, each high capacity data stream delivered to every subscriber's home would have to stretch
right back through the core network.
"The IP multicast protocol standard, as configured by Newbridge within its equipment, is crucial in making our broadband service offering
viable," Child explained.
Kingston's service is delivered via normal phone socket into a splitter device, separating the IP-based data services from any simultaneous
conventional voice calls. Attached to the splitter is the broadband modem and a set-top box plugged into the TV set and, if desired, a PC.
Services are controlled by an infrared keypad.
A 55-Digital-Channel Universe
Joining the British telco in the revolutionary interactive broadband customer offering is Pace, which is supplying set-top boxes for the
service; Elmsdale Media, which is providing its YesTV video-on-demand service; and BSkyB, Flextech and the BBC, which are delivering
multichannel television.
Kingston's service package includes:
up to 55 digital broadcast television channels
access to over 1,000 hours of video-on-demand entertainment
Internet speeds of up to 256 kb/s
Local Link -- a bundled offering of local news, information, entertainment and shopping with e-commerce applications
Driving the delivery is the Newbridge 3dSL solution. 3dSL incorporates four key technologies:
the scalable, high capacity ATM universal services platform, the MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices Switch, which supports up
to 12.8 Gb/s switching capability throughout
the open-architecture MainStreetXpress 46020 Network Manager solution that manages multi-technology, multiservice networks on
a single platform and provides the complete solution for maintaining service excellence
Newbridge ADSL components from the Newbridge DSL product family that provide scalable, managed, carrier class, high speed
access to the multiservice ATM backbone network
Newbridge 940 Service Subscription Manager (SSM) -- a service management layer application added to the Newbridge
management portfolio to facilitate the deployment of broadband access services via DSL using web- and Java-based technology
to automate the tasks of managing and provisioning services from both the subscriber and provider
iMagicTV and PixStream
Newbridge worked with its Affiliates iMagicTV Inc. and PixStream Inc. to complete the TV content redistribution application for Kingston.
iMagicTV's software, DTV Manager, is a complete, end-to-end software solution that brings together everything service providers need to
deliver and manage interactive digital television and integrated web services.
PixStream has worked with a number of service providers to develop the expertise needed to offer a complete TV content redistribution
head-end solution customized to fit within carriers' existing network infrastructures.
Integrating iMagicTV and PixStream solutions with the Newbridge 3dSL solution gives service providers the connection-oriented switching
fabric and quality of service guarantees necessary to deliver fully managed unicast and multicast transport capabilities directly from their
existing broadband network infrastructures.
Ultimately, the Newbridge 3dSL solution has generated tremendous opportunities for both Kingston and its customers, explains Child.
"Through our partnership with Newbridge, the broadband access network we have established lends itself to innovative service packages and
new content and advertising initiatives that would not have been possible until now." |
