London, UK – Colt, Europe’s leading provider of managed broadcast fiber solutions, has used products from Nevion’s Ventura line to deliver cost-effective and high-quality contribution facilities for Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) brands including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. The fiber routing links VIMN’s play-out hub in Camden, North London with BSkyB in Osterley, West London, to deliver four of the broadcaster’s channels uncompressed in a single fiber.
Colt adopted CWDM techniques from the Ventura platform to feed dual fiber connections to Sky. The solution also proved to be more cost-effective for the broadcaster, as previously five separate fibers were used—four carrying individual channels with a fifth used for redundancy. The new circuits offer extra resilience with the provision of a second geographically diverse fiber for full 1+1 redundancy.
“We’re really pleased to be able to offer a secure and uncompressed solution for live broadcast TV contribution through Nevion’s Ventura technology,” said Mark Webb, senior media specialist at Colt. “We’ve been impressed by Nevion’s enthusiasm, the quality of their technology and how this can be incorporated within our service to offer broadcasters such as MTV robust and cost-effective point-to-point contribution services.”
Howard Monaghan, director of broadcast distribution for VIMN said: “We need to have 100% confidence in the quality of distribution paths. Colt, in conjunction with Nevion, provided us the level of service delivery we require without compromising signal quality.”
Nick Pywell, managing director of Nevion UK, added: “After working with Colt on several successful projects, we’re delighted to be working together with such a high-profile broadcaster as MTV. Colt’s fiber network and Nevion’s Ventura product range combine to deliver an efficient and scalable deployment that meets Sky’s objectives.”