Foxcom delivers telecom alternative to residential properties.

The new SDTVplus access solution from Foxcom Inc. allows service providers to deliver Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Internet and traditional cable services to the booming Multi-Dwelling Unit (MDU) market over a single-wire, fiber-optic infrastructure.

Now available from Foxcom, SDTVplus is targeted at private Cable Operators (PCOs), DBS service delivery companies and the video business units of the former regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs).

"Our SDTVplus platform supports the delivery of multiple popular consumer services, yet uses the MDU property's existing coaxial cable infrastructure," explained David S. Stehlin, CEO of Princeton, NJ-based Foxcom. "Because SDTVplus is fiber-based, it avoids the bandwidth limitations and signal loss problems of a coaxonly delivery system. SDTVplus lets PCOs and other operators move cost-effectively toward the convergence that consumers now demand."

Convergence refers to an operator's ability to deliver integrated voice, video and data services to MDUs. The MDU market, which includes apartment and condominium developments with two or more units, is growing worldwide. Of the 20 million MDUs in the U.S., only five percent are currently served by an integrated service provider, according to a 1999 report by the Yankee Group, an industry analyst firm.

From a single wire, SDTVplus allows providers to deliver more than 2.4 GHz to each tenant. That is more than enough bandwidth to deliver DESS, traditional cable television (CATV), Internet access, local off-air UHF/VHF television (Satellite Master Antenna Television or SMATV) and security services. DBS allows tenants to receive 200 or more channels from a single rooftop satellite. (DBS is sometimes known as L-Band, the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies between 950-2,150 MHz.)

"Because fiber has virtually unlimited bandwidth, our platform gives the service provider and the MDU property owner 'future-proofing' capabilities," said Stehlin. The Foxcom platform has adequate bandwidth to support future multimedia services without requiring costly system upgrades.

The Foxcom platform also offers key advantages to MDU property owners. By utilizing the coax infrastructure that has been used to deliver traditional cable services to the property, SDTVplus does not require major system upgrades to the development. Property owners want to offer the best multimedia services possible without disrupting their tenants' lives, said Stehlin.

"The property owner wants to be able to tell tenants that the development is prewired for satellite, cable and broadband access," he explalned. "With SDTVplus, the owner can tell tenants that all they need to add is a converter box."