Apr 12 2010
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) today announced it will significantly upgrade its Vyvx VenueNet infrastructure. VenueNet+ will introduce new and enhanced services in venues nationwide, designed to support innovation in broadcast delivery.
In 2010, Level 3’s investment will focus on upgrading venue services in time for the start of the U.S. professional football and hockey seasons. In 2011, Level 3 expects to continue upgrading venue services in time for professional basketball and baseball seasons. Upgrades will include:
- Support for 1080P high definition (HD) video services with native uncompressed HD-SDI customer hand-offs, and support for the next generation of 3 Gigabit per second HD services.
- End-to-end fiber infrastructure to support future broadcast applications, including 3D transmission.
- Uncompressed HD-ready support at venues that are directly connected with Level 3 fiber access.
- Integrated codecs enabling high-quality video compression.
- New and advanced support for local and remote signal verification and monitoring.
- Seamless connectivity to the Level 3 Tier-1 IP backbone – one of the most connected networks in the world – for Internet access. Services will be able to run at multi-gigabit speeds to enable new digital file-based workflows for broadcasters.
- Advanced Level 3 enterprise voice services.
“By upgrading its Vyvx infrastructure, Level 3 is demonstrating a commitment to broadcasters for the delivery of high profile events,” said Mukul Krishna, global director for Digital Media at Frost & Sullivan. “With an increase in demand for events broadcast in HD, Frost & Sullivan believes that the demand for supporting infrastructure at the venue is also going to follow a similar upward trajectory. This upgrade also paves the way for advances in broadcast and event delivery by adding capabilities and standards to support future uncompressed and 3D applications.”
Since 1994, Vyvx VenueNet services have set a standard for broadcasters’ event delivery, deploying services in more than 100 professional sports venues in the U.S. In 2009 alone, Level 3 Vyvx services delivered over 18,000 sports feeds, totaling more than 140,000 hours of live video transmission.
“As demand for connectivity into venues increases and the call for innovation in event delivery grows louder, Level 3 is investing to enable both, while making the process as simple as possible for our customers,” said Peter Neill, senior vice president of Content Markets at Level 3. “From high-speed IP to live HD delivery, we’re committed to providing the services our customers want by driving technology forward, and expanding the possibilities for how events are delivered over the Level 3 network.”