Verimatrix, developer of the most widely deployed IPTV content protection system with tier one operators, today at Globalcomm 2006 announced that Arkwest Communications, headquartered in Danville, AR, has deployed the Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS) on its IPTV platform, making the provider the first to offer triple play services - voice, Internet and digital television - in Arkansas. Verimatrix was chosen as the preferred content protection solution that enabled Arkwest to receive premium Hollywood content and broadcast channels.

Arkwest has completed trials of its new IPTV service with a limited customer base and will officially launch this summer with multi-level service plans, which includes access to more than 200 channels and 1,500 hours of movies on demand. Residents of Danville, Ola, Plainview, Belleville and Havana will be the first to subscribe.

"We wanted to offer our community a better TV alternative in terms of price, service, quality and choice," said P.T. Sanders, vice president of operations for Arkwest. "VCAS proved to be a more compatible and highly integrated solution for our platform. It was a perfect choice for us to quickly deploy both live broadcast and Video-on-Demand services over our network ahead of our competition. Based on initial feedback, we anticipate an aggressive rollout to our entire subscriber base."

Arkwest is a long-time customer of Madison Group, a specialty contractor for the communications industry that served as the systems integrator for this deployment. Madison Group has been building IPTV networks since 2004 as well as providing switching, transport and access networks for telco customers since its founding in 1991. For Arkwest’s IPTV network, Madison Group also selected TotalManage middleware from Myrio, a Siemens company, MPEG-2 encoding equipment from Skystream, a TANDBERG Television company, Occam’s IP Broadband Loop Carrier for the transport and access network, Comtrend ADSL2+ modems and Amino set-top boxes for the CPE devices.

The Video-on-Demand (VOD) solution was provided by ViewNow and Entone Technologies. The partnership between Verimatrix and Entone allowed the encryption software to run on Entone’s VOD server, saving Arkwest the expense of a second encryption server.

"We were impressed with Verimatrix’s ability to get its system up and running for a smooth deployment" said David Yates, director of engineering for Madison Group. "IPTV is new to many of our customers and Verimatrix does an excellent job of educating them on its technology advantages. We look forward to working with Verimatrix in the future."

VCAS is a software-based content security solution built on the principles of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and X.509 digital certificates, which can be combined with VideoMarkTM forensic digital watermarking technology. VCAS enables devices and systems within media delivery networks to be encrypted and authenticated in order to identify security breaches and unauthorized network users.

"Arkwest is another great example of how pioneering telco operators are providing IPTV to its subscribers in the United States," said Steve Oetegenn, EVP of Global Sales and Marketing, Verimatrix. "We have designed our system with open standards to be easily integrated, which provides a cost and speed-to-market advantage for network operators."