“HD Program Delivery for Bandwidth- and Budget-Constrained Telcos,” was held Monday, April 14, from 11:10 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. Tim Owens, principal, Cronin Communications, moderated.

Presenters included Walt Davis, product management director, IP-PRIME, SES Americom, and Ian Jefferson, VP of sales, Entone.

Delivering more HD programming to offer a competitive alternative to cable and satellite is becoming an ever-increasing challenge to the telco industry. This past holiday season, sales of HDTV sets rose and consumers are now demanding more HD programming. Currently, the telcos’ MPEG-2 systems are leaving them bandwidth-constrained, and there is a need to look at different options to fulfill the increasing demand for HD programming. Also, the ever-expanding list of HD programs also puts stress on the telco capital budget. This panel reviewed the options and discussed the pros and cons to the various approaches MPEG-2 telcos can take to expanding HD programming, including upgrading their existing networks to deliver more bandwidth.