Algar Telecom Brazil has started the digitalization process of its cable TV operation with the Argentine integrator Network Broadcast, which will provide Algar with an end-to-end solution with Harmonic headend, Verimatrix CAS, Tecsys encoders and SMT STBs, according to what Javier Lorenzo, Network Broadcast Commercial Director, has confirmed NexTV Latam.
The company is specifically in charge of “the whole MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 digitalization, both in SD and HD, for the complete analog subscriber base”, Lorenzo stated. Before being chosen by the Brazilian operator, the company had to participate in a RFP and a contest “where each provider took their equipment and carried out trials” was held. “The one presenting the solution and being able to show it from the user’s point of view with the best quality and at the lowest price was granted the project”, the executive pointed out.
Therefore, Network added another important client in Brazil. Over the course of a meeting held with journalists, the company’s president Alejandro Cubino stated that this year a 53% growth has been recorded, in part thanks to the good performance of the Brazilian market, and in the Andean region, where Network is also developing several projects.
Algar Telecom renders fixed, and mobile telephony, Internet and Pay-TV services in the residential and corporate markets in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. As of 3Q11 closing, the operator recorded 93,000 Pay-TV clients (under CTBC brand), 60,000 of whom belonged to its DTH (which utilizes Media Networks’ platform) and the remaining 33,000 belonged to its cable TV operation, currently present in the municipalities of Araguari and Uberlândia (Minas Gerais). Moreover, the company recorded 856,000 fixed telephony users and 633,000 mobile telephony clients, according to what the company has disclosed in its report.
