Fornet Improves Satellite Bandwid Efficiency, Video Quality, and Reduces TCO with Integrated Harmonic Solution

Date:

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure, today announced that Forthnet, the company that owns Nova, the largest pay-TV satellite platform in Greece, has chosen a high-end compression headend with video analytics from Harmonic to support its direct-to-home (DTH) SD/HD service. The integrated solution was installed by Harmonic's local channel partner and system integrator OmniWave. Using Harmonic's high-density, scalable video infrastructure solutions, Nova has successfully increased bandwidth efficiency, improved video quality, and lowered operating expenses. Relying on a mix of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, as well as DVB-S2 technologies, the Harmonic solution gives Nova a competitive edge in the satellite DTH market and increases customer satisfaction.

Our customers are constantly demanding superior video quality. Ultimately, we decided that a combination of DVB-S2 and MPEG-4 SD and HD technologies would be the most cost-effective method for delivering that experience and for reducing our OPEX by eliminating the cost of one satellite transponder, said Constantinos Moraitis, technical director, Pay-TV Technical Division at Nova. Only Harmonic's infrastructure solutions gave us the flexibility to produce more content and seamlessly expand our service offerings in the future, while lowering our total cost of ownership. In addition to performing MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 compression, Harmonic's video processing solutions support advanced capabilities such as statistical multiplexing, enabling us to deliver excellent video quality at low bit rates. The cooperation, experience, and professionalism from Harmonic and OmniWave made this a smooth transition.

Nova is utilizing Harmonic's market-leading Electra encoders for high-quality, low-bandwidth MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 encoding of SD and HD video content for live and VOD DTH services. The ultra-dense, durable, and high-performance encoders increase Nova's channel count per satellite transponder, enabling the operator to reclaim valuable bandwidth that can be used to expand its service offerings.

The Electra encoders are integrated with Harmonic's ProStream stream processors for multiplexing, scrambling, and statistical multiplexing of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 services in multiple streams. Utilizing the ProStream processor for statistical multiplexing, Nova can support up to 64 services per statistically multiplexed pool, 16 pools per platform, and three pools within a single transport stream in order to increase bandwidth efficiency. The ProStream platform is based on a highly robust, extensible, and scalable design that lowers Nova's operating expenses through reduced rack space and power requirements.

To maximize quality and efficiency, Nova deployed Harmonic's Iris advanced video analytics software suite to allow simultaneous monitoring and analysis of up to 250 video services. After collecting data from the Electra encoders in Nova's headend, Iris presents the operator with a comprehensive set of user-friendly charts, reports, and dashboards. Leveraging these resources, Nova can optimally balance its DTH channels across statmux pools to optimize bandwidth use and ensure high video quality, ultimately increasing viewer satisfaction.

As satellite operators look to broaden their channel lineups, utilizing bandwidth efficiently becomes increasingly important, said Ian Graham, vice president of sales, EMEA, Harmonic. Using the latest innovations in integrated video processing and analysis from Harmonic, Nova can deliver hundreds of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 DTH channels while maintaining crystal-clear video quality at the lowest possible TCO.

Further information about Harmonic and the company's products is available at www.harmonicinc.com.

About Harmonic

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) is the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure for emerging television and video services. The company's production-ready innovation enables content and service providers to efficiently create, prepare, and deliver differentiated services for television and new media video platforms. More information is available at www.harmonicinc.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to the anticipated capabilities and benefits of Harmonic's Electra encoder, ProStream processor, and Iris software suite. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these products may not materialize and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the possibility that the products may not meet some or all of their anticipated capabilities or provide some or all of their anticipated benefits, such as increased bandwidth efficiency, improved video quality, lowered operation expenses, competitive edge, and increased customer satisfaction.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, such as those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec.31, 2013, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Harmonic as of the date hereof, and Harmonic disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

About Forthnet

Forthnet is the largest entertainment and communications provider in Greece. Today, the company that brought internet and satellite pay TV in Greece is, through Nova 3Play, the largest 3play provider in the country. Using state-of-the-art technologies and fully exploiting its knowhow, Forthnet Group offers a wid

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