Evolution Digital, following its blanket waiver from the Federal Communications Commission that allows cable operators to deploy its digital transport adapters with built-in security, has been selected to provide the a municipal cable operator in Frankfort, Ky., with DTAs.
The Frankfort Plant Board (FPB), which serves 17,000 subscribers in Kentucky's capital city, currently operates a 750-MHz system. Using the sub-$50 DTAs, FPB expects to reclaim between 280-300 MHz of analog spectrum, giving it the potential to launch up to 60 new HD services.
"We need to reclaim bandwidth in order to launch more HD to retain customers and continue to compete in the market," FPB cable and telecom superintendent John Higginbotham said in a statement. "Today there is no space for VOD rollout or DOCSIS 3.0."
The FCC order, released in June, granted Evolution a three-year waiver to the agency's "integrated set-top ban" for the vendor's DTAs. Evolution subsequently filed another waiver request, for a sub-$100 HD DTA.
FPB is launching Evolution's DTA with embedded conditional-access from Conax, a subsidiary of Norwegian telecommunications operator Telenor. The cable provider plans to begin the digital transition in October on a node-by-node basis.
In addition to providing cable TV, broadband, telephone, home security and dark-fiber services, FPB also provides the citizens of Frankfort and Franklin County with electric and water services.
