Aliant has begun using CopperGate’s CopperStream HomePNA 3.1 chipset integrated into set-top boxes and other Ethernet-over-Coax products for deployment of its new IPTV service offering. Aliant is the leading IPTV service provider in Atlantic Canada.

Aliant TV was launched in June 2005 and is now available in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia; Moncton, New Brunswick; and St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Aliant TV delivers digital picture and sound quality and features over 200 fully digital television channels and over 170 digital audio services, pay-per-view and an easy-to-use electronic (on-screen) program guide.

Pulse introduces its Excelsus brand B-V175 twisted pair to coaxial balun that allows DSL or home phoneline networking frequencies to be transmitted from twisted pair to coaxial mediums, and vice versa, to support VDSL2 and HomePNA deployments. The balun is easily installed with simple plug-in connections. It matches a 100 Ohm twisted pair cable, which is a balanced signal, to a 75 Ohm coaxial cable, which is an unbalanced signal, without degrading the signal.

Telephone companies transmit their signals over twisted pair wiring. This is the existing home wiring that normally is supplied to a house by the telephone company. A balun is a passive electronic device that converts between balanced and unbalanced electrical signals. With the Excelsus B-V175, the twisted pair telephone or VDSL2 connectors are plugged into one end of the balun and a coaxial cable that is connected to the other end of the balun is plugged into a set-top box. The signal from the phone/VDSL2 line is then able to be used to supply the set-top box and the TV with IPTV.

Two million HomePNA chip sets shipped by CopperGate Communications demonstrates strong HomePNA adoption amid the growing IPTV market. HomePNA, which features guaranteed quality of service to eliminate collisions between data streams and high user throughput, is used to distribute HDTV as well standard definition television, VoIP and other multimedia data over existing phone wires and coax cables.

IPTV service subscribers doubled between 2005 and 2006 and nearly tripled this year, according to an October Point Topic report for the DSL Forum. The same report shows North American numbers have quadrupled since June 2005.

CopperGate Communications announces that Sonaecom has selected CopperGate’s CopperStream technology for Sonaecom’s fast growing Clix SmarTV IPTV service.

CopperGate’s CopperStream chipsets, available from leading manufacturers embedded in set-top boxes, residential gateways and other equipment, provide a complete HomePNA 3 home networking solution. Products integrating CopperStream are being deployed today by major telephone service providers worldwide for IPTV applications as well as for Multi-tenant Unit in-building access applications.

Light Reading has an interesting article on why AT&T has choosen to use standard phonelines (HomePNA) for broadcasting their U-verse IPTV service throughout the home. AT&T ruled out both coax cable (MoCA) and the latest wireless standard, 802.11n, as options for U-verse.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has standardized the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance's HomePNA 3.1 multimedia home networking specification, making HomePNA the only internationally standardized existing-wire home networking technology. HomePNA 3.1 enables high-speed Internet services (IPTV, VoIP, data) over both phone wires and coaxial cables at speeds up to 320 megabits per second.

HomePNA 3.1 provides multi-spectrum operation, adding VDSL coexistence to the ADSL, POTS and broadcast TV channel spectrum coexistence provided by the HomePNA 3.0 specification. Multi-spectrum operation also allows multiple HomePNA networks to coexist on the same wiring.

HomePNA announced the release of HomePNA 3.1, a home networking specification that increases data rates over existing home wiring to 320 Megabits per second. Building on the industry-leading HomePNA 3.0 specification, it enables service providers to simultaneously distribute triple-play IPTV, voice and Internet data services as well as other networked entertainment data in the home at even higher speeds while keeping costs low. The specification is available to alliance members only.

New developments in Home Phoneline Networking (HomePNA) technology will give the market a boost, and help it become a viable player in deployment of home video networks, reports In-Stat. Migration is underway from the lower-speed HomePNA 2 to HomePNA 3, and worldwide shipments for HomePNA 3 will exceed 200% growth in 2007, the high-tech market research firm says.

HomePNA 3.0 currently supports speeds of 128 Mbps and guarantees quality of service for video, audio, and VoIP.