Israeli startup Fabrix.TV, majority owned
by telecommunications and energy provider
IDT, is one of the key vendors in the mix behind
Cablevision Systems’ closely watched Remote
Storage-Digital Video Recorder project, according
to industry sources.
Cablevision and Fabrix.TV reps declined to
comment.
According to IDT’s 10-K annual report filing on
Oct. 28, “In August 2010, a major cable operator
licensed [the Fabrix.TV] software to empower its
cloud-based DVR offering.”
On Cablevision’s third-quarter earnings call
earlier this month, chief operating officer Tom
Rutledge said the network-based DVR service
is ready to go live in New York sometime before
the end of 2010, and the MSO is going to
cease buying physical DVR set-tops once it’s
fully rolled out.
According to the Fabrix.TV website, the company’s
platform is based on off -the-shelf servers
and handles both ingest and streaming. The
startup has a section of its site devoted to a Remote
Storage DVR solution, which boasts that the
modular architecture “is ideal for RS-DVR applications
as it scales to support petabytes of video
storage with an industry-leading cost/capacity
ratio.” A Petabyte is the equivalent of 1 million
Gigabytes.
Meanwhile, VOD software and systems vendor
SeaChange International lists Fabrix.TV as a
partner on its own website.
For the fiscal year ended July 31, according to
IDT’s annual report, it spent $2.8 million in research
and development related to Fabrix.TV, the
same amount as the prior-year period.
IDT is based in Newark, N.J., where Fabrix.TV
lists a U.S. office. That’s a stone’s throw away from
Cablevision’s Bethpage, N.Y., campus.
Cablevision, before it was hauled into court
in 2006 by cable programmers and other content
owners alleging copyright infringement, developed
the RS-DVR using VOD equipment from
Arroyo Video Solutions. Cablevision ultimately
prevailed in the case after the U.S. Supreme
Court declined to review
it last year.
Arroyo was acquired
by Cisco Systems
for $92 million.
At this point, however,
Cisco is “absolutely
not” in the RS-DVR at
Cablevision, a source
close to the MSO confirmed.
