Ericsson to supply headend for Comux

Ericsson is to supply the compression platform to power the delivery of local TV services in the UK, provided by platform operator Comux.

Comux UK has selected Ericsson to enable it to package the content delivered from the 19 local TV areas – Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Preston, Sheffield and Southampton. Ericsson will supply a multi-platform headend system including its AVP 4000 compression platform, powered by the company’s homegrown video processing chip.

According to Ericsson, the dedicated software programmable engine guarantees that Comux can benefit from further video quality improvement in MPEG-2 in the future as well as the ability to upgrade to other resolutions and formats.

Ed Hall, chief executive, Comux, said: “The selection of technology partners such as Ericsson is a critical part of the infrastructure we are putting in place to support the launch of 19 local TV stations across the UK. After a thorough evaluation of a number of compression platforms, carried out jointly with our systems integrator Techex, the Ericsson AVP 4000 solution delivered the performance and support package that best meets our needs. The implementation of the Ericsson AVP 4000 solution ensures that we can continue to be innovative, flexible and responsive to the needs of the local TV license holders as the service develops and expands.”