June 12, 2018 — Alma, GA – For ATC Broadband in Alma Georgia, running three video plants is not something you would wish on your worst enemy, but for ease of operation and maintenance IPTV has far and away been the best of the three. As ATC adds fiber in their new growth territories, those customers receive the IPTV product while their legacy areas are running with RF and Analog Cable TV. Gerry Grayson, ATC’s VP of Network Operations says the decision to go IPTV versus RF overlay in the new fiber areas has turned out to be a good decision for them.
Pain Free Set-Up and Deployment
According to Video Manager Tony McKinnon, most of the IPTV middleware configuration was handled in-house with minimal support from Innovative Systems. McKinnon said what little support that they needed was provided remotely without an on-site vendor visit, making the installation more efficient and less expensive. Six months into IPTV, ATC has seen virtually no middleware issues and Grayson attributes this to the end to end management provided by the Innovative Systems solution. With minimal conflicts between the middleware, content, and the STB, support calls are uncommon in comparison to the cable side. When asked about the learning curve going from RF Cable to IPTV, McKinnon says for them it has been a “piece of cake” stipulating that your cable technicians need to have multicast video routing experience.
Cloud DVR a Major Upgrade
Grayson says that all IPTV subscribers who choose DVR will be using the cDVR product on the InnoStream™ platform. He said between cDVR, Pause Live TV, and Restart TV, ATC customers are getting better timeshifted viewing options than what their Cable customers can receive.
Advice for Cable Providers Going to Fiber
Grayson says you are doing yourself a favor by giving fiber customers as much bandwidth as your network can deliver to future proof your communications service. He adds you cannot ask for a better product to deliver IPTV over fiber than the Innovative Systems Middleware.
