Bright House has sparked a plan to all-digital in Central Florida, a strategy that will enable the operator to reclaim valuable analog spectrum and reuse it toward other services, including more high-definition television channels.
Using an approach initially championed by Comcast, and also in use at MSOs such as Mediacom and to a limited degree at Time Warner Cable, Bright House will fuel the transition with Digital Transport Adapters (DTAs), which are simple, downstream-only, digital-to-analog channel-zappers.
At this early stage in the deployment, Bright House is featuring Cisco Systems-made 170HD DTA models (pictured at left) that are capable of decoding both standard- and high-definition digital video signals in MPEG-2 or MPEG-4. In addition to an overall, larger slate of channels, the DTAs will deliver a lineup of more than 40 HD channels, including ESPN, Disney Channel, Animal Planet, CNN, Discovery and A&E, the company said.
According to web page dedicated to Bright House's all-digital project, the analog-to-digital transition in Central Florida will be well underway by February. The MSO is offering customers with two DTAs and two remote controls at no additional charge until January 2015. Bright House will lease out additional adapters for $2 per month.
Bright House’s initial all-digital plan is for Central Florida, which includes systems serving greater Orlando and Daytona. The operator expects to complete the transition there by the end of the summer, according to a Bright House spokeswoman.
Bright House has not announced if or when it plans to launch similar all-digital efforts in other markets. Bright House, which serves about 2.4 million customers, also operates systems in Bakersfield, Calif.; Birmingham, Ala.; Detroit; Indianapolis; and Tampa Bay.
The video below shows how Bright House is communicating the plan to customers in Central Florida.
