Appear, a leading provider of video delivery technology, today announced that Gigared, the Argentinian telecommunications operator, has chosen Appear to help deliver HD content to more subscribers across the country.
Gigared offers pay-TV, internet and telephony services to consumers and enterprises across Argentina. The company was looking to increase the number of HD signals it supports for its pay-TV service. All Gigared customers have access to HD content—even at its basic subscription level—without the need for a STB. However, Gigared has ambitions to increase its footprint across Argentina, and needed a technology partner that could support with the delivery of more HD channels to more subscribers. To do this, and to migrate Gigared’s subscribers from analogue to digital television services, it needed a technology provider that would be able to support Gigared’s DVB-C headend with ISDB-T modulation.
Gigared has deployed Appear’s X and XC Platforms to support with the delivery of digital TV services. Gigared has deployed Appear’s mux X20 and XC5000 ISDB-T modulator at its central headend, as well as at two remote locations. Gigared selected Appear’s technology because of its interoperability with ISDB-T for cable.
“As we looked to migrate our subscribers to digital TV services, we knew we had a challenge on our hands when it came to interoperability. We didn’t want our customers to have to set-up and install STBs—we wanted to provide a seamless customer experience. But it can be tricky to find the right support for ISDB-T implementations on cable as many TV sets on the market are simply not compatible,” said Juan Ramon Garcia Bish, New Technologies Manager at Gigared. “We selected Appear to support us as it is a technology partner that we could trust to simplify the upgrade to HD services. Not only do Appear’s solutions ensure we can deliver the high-quality TV experience our subscribers expect direct to their TVs, but with little downtime and high-quality performance, we knew that we could deploy Appear’s technology at our remote locations, and they would simply work.”
Another reason Gigared selected Appear was because it had an ISDB-T modulator card compatible with the chassis Gigared had in production. Appear’s ISDB-T modulator card is one that offers the highest density available on the market.
“Today’s subscribers expect the very best possible TV experience, which means having access to HD content is very much the norm—even without a STB. But as a TV provider, navigating different technology standards, all while ensuring performance and reliability is complex,” said Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO at Appear. “We’re delighted to be working with Gigared and to be bringing high quality content to its subscribers across Argentina. Our leading technology, along with our longstanding heritage and expertise, means we have the technology Gigared needed to ensure it can deliver outstanding TV experiences.”
Gigared is committed to expanding its triple play offering across Argentina and is currently present in the five capitals of the provinces along the coastline of Argentina. Appear’s technology has helped Gigared with its geographical expansion, and Gigared is steadily expanding to neighboring cities.
ENDS
About Gigared
Gigared is an Argentinian telecommunications company known for its high quality and innovative technology. Gigared was founded by a group of Argentinian professionals that designed and built multi-purpose networks capable of adapting to the changes imposed by the current technological world. Since its inception, the company has evolved by adding high-value products and services to fulfil the needs of its two customer segments: Corporate and Residential.
The company has a large network of optical fibres with unique characteristics that connects the main cities along the Argentinian coastline and Buenos Aires. In 2001, the company introduced bounded services of high bandwidth internet and cable TV for its residential customers. The company remained at the forefront of the market when it added IP telephony, becoming the first company to offer triple play services in Argentina. Gigared was born with a HFC platform that offered bidirectional internet with DOCSIS technology, in contrast to the rest of the market which used dial-up as the return channel at that time. Today, Gigared is migrating to a FTTH network, which will be the basis for any new project.