Bell Canada launches new digital video transport service
"Bell Canada's Digital Video service is the most advanced video delivery technology available in North America responding to a well-defined need in the industry for an uncompressed, real-time video transport service," said Randy Reynolds, President of Bell Nexxia. "With Bell's Digital Video, we are offering a high-quality service that is tailored to those at all levels of the film and broadcast industry - from the small production house to the large broadcast studio."
Operating on Bell Canada's advanced ATM broadband network, Digital Video allows video to travel across North America at high speed and arrive at its destination with a quality pristine enough for editing or broadcast, far surpassing current analog compressed technologies.
"With existing fibre networks between the U.S. and Canada, Digital Video has the strong potential to become the medium of choice for many companies and universities requiring high quality video for broadcast, production and post-production purposes," said Terry Harvey, Manager of Broadcast Systems Engineering at Ryerson University's Department of Computing and Communications Services. "Digital Video offers a great opportunity for producers of movies, commercials and news excerpts to easily send, receive and edit video while realizing significant cost savings."
Many broadcast and film production companies often transport video via overnight couriers. For example, a film producer often sends video from a sound-editing studio to a special effects production house using a courier, adding several days to the post production process. Now with Bell's Digital Video offering a secure, instantaneous delivery of high quality, uncompressed video, time and money are saved, without compromising quality.
While many customers demand film-quality video at Internet-speed for production purposes, others may only need to send a basic quality file to be used for a news broadcast. The flexibility of Bell's Digital Video services means that video can be sent via uncompressed, compressed or DVB/ASI format and customers can select the service that meets their specific requirements. Three services are available under the Digital Video umbrella including: 270 Mbps transport, MPEG transport, and DVB/ASI.
With the rapid growth of the Canadian and US film industries, the potential market for Bell's Digital Video service is significant. According to a Weinstock media analysis, an independent consultant to film industry trade publication POST Magazine, US$7.5 billion was spent on post-production services last year in the US alone. Postproduction services include the complete editing process and assembly of recorded material after filming. Digital Video service has the potential to significantly reduce these costs and the turn-around time in the post-production process.
"Digital Video illustrates how Bell is powering connectivity with content and commerce to meet an industry need for a video transport system that maintains film quality, offers flexible levels of service and saves time and money," concluded Reynolds.
Bell Canada's Digital Video service will be available to customers in 10 North American cities including New York, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Chicago, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with additional cities later in 2001. The service will be offered by Teleglobe in the US.
Beginning in June 2001, customers will be able to order Digital Video via a Web-based order entry system. This system will enable users to calculate service rates, order services, and receive confirmation numbers to ensure services have been reserved.