Orlando -- Evolution Digital said operators including Comcast are planning to deploy its HD wall-plate digital terminal adapter -- designed to ensure subscribers don’t walk off with their DTAs when they cancel their service.
The Liberty wall-plate DTA is in the labs of most of the top 20 MSOs in the U.S., according to the company. Operators are looking to primarily install the product in multidwelling units, hotels and other commercial facilities.
“They want to keep these in there forever,” Evolution Digital president Brent Smith said.
Comcast will deploy the Liberty devices in 2013, according to Smith. Comcast spokeswoman Jenni Moyer declined to confirm its rollout of the wall-plate DTAs.
DTAs are low-cost set-tops with limited, one-way functionality aimed at letting operators eliminate analog TV transmission. Unlike its other DTAs, Evolution's Liberty is not designed for self-install. The white wall-plate adapter includes an RF remote control, which means it does not require line-of-sight to function, and includes HDMI and coax outputs.
“We focus more on innovation and disruptive technology than following the legacy box supplier strategy of ‘bigger is better,’ not to mention more expensive,” Smith said.
The Liberty wall-plate DTAs are priced at about $70 each, including the RF remote. Its standalone HD DTA box is about $50 and the SD version is less than $35.
Evolution said it is now in full-scale production of the Liberty wall-plate DTA, with inventory currently available to support high-volume field trials.
Separately, Evolution Digital announced that Columbus Communications, a cable operator that provides service in 25 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central America and Andean region, is deploying a hybrid IP video platform developed by Evolution, conditional-access vendor Conax and middleware developer Cubiware. The system will support delivery of VOD content to IP hybrid set-tops and multiscreen devices.
