Small cable systems look to HITS-QT as cost effective way of going digital

A more economical version of Canadian Satellite Communications Inc’s (Cancom) Headend in the Sky (HITS) service now being tested could accelerate the deployment of digital cable service by small cable systems. Norcom Telecommunications Ltd, based in Kenora ON, and Westman Communications Group of Brandon MB, last week began testing HITS-QT (Quick Take), and the results look promising. The technology would drastically lower the headend costs of converting to digital and could pave the way for small cable operators to leave the analog world behind and better compete with satellite TV in the digital environment. "I think it will open the door for a lot of smaller cable operators (to deploy digital)," says Norcom general manager Warren Ritchie. "The way I look at it is that it lowers the bar. The digital bar was set at systems with 5,000 to 10,000 customers. Anything under that was really taking a risk. But HITS-QT lowers the bar to systems with 200 or 300 customers." Westman president and CEO David Baxter notes that the more generic headend equipment used with HITS-QT costs 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the price of Cancom’s existing HITS system. Instead of having to shell out $100,000 for HITS, small cable operators would only need to spend $20,000 with HITS-QT. The biggest difference between HITS and HITS-QT, according to Ritchie, is the pass-through system. He points out that the control functions and different services such as the program guide are in-band, or encoded in the signal coming off the satellite. The signal passes through the headend right into the digital box in the cable customer’s home. On the other hand, HITS is out-of-band, which means the control services and the program guide are on a separate frequency and inserted locally. The price at the headend falls because the control functions are not there. With HITS-QT, the signal provider has to be able to embed those functions in the signal, which could up the cost of acquiring the signal. "No price has been settled (on the cost of the embedded signal), but the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) and Cancom are negotiating that right now," Ritchie told CCR. "But we’re hoping, and it seems to be pointing to a reasonable and cost effective approach." He points out that one limitation to HITS-QT is that channel mapping is required. That means if a digital signal coming off a transponder is mapped to channel 52 on the television dial, for example, the cable company must run that signal on channel 52. The cableco can decide not to pick up the signal, but it will not be able to place another signal in the channel 52 slot. Ritchie figures Canada will follow the U.S. lead and work out four channel maps probably linked to capacity. There could well be one map for 300 MHz systems, one for 450 MHz, another for 550 MHz and yet another for 750 MHz. "From purely a technical perspective, HITS-QT is not particularly complicated," Baxter notes. "It’s probably more complicated to get all of the billing system interfaces and signal supplier and transport arrangements in place and coordinated. Those are probably the bigger challenges." Norcom is currently testing the headend equipment capable of working with HITS-QT of three manufacturers – Drake Canada, Blonder Tongue and WaveCom. Cancom has set up a HITS-QT channel map for Norcom to test in its Kenora cable system, which has about 3,500 subscribers. However, the test is limited to five homes as the company only has that number of digital set-top boxes. Ritchie anticipates expanding the tests to two other Norcom cable systems that have at least 1,000 customers, with an official launch of the product expected in late fall. He notes that Norcom is currently only testing HITS-QT with signals from Cancom, but that the system could also work with those supplied by Bell ExpressVu LP. "The CCSA is certainly having discussions with Bell ExpressVu (about doing tests)," says Ritchie. "I certainly would be willing to do it, if something came along." Westman is currently carrying out a preliminary technical trial at its headquarters in Brandon, making sure the signals are being received at the headend and relayed properly to digital boxes. Within the next two weeks, it plans to test HITS-QT with 10 to 15 customers in its 1,500-subscriber system in Swan River MB. Baxter hopes for a commercial rollout of HITS-QT in 60 to 90 days, in conjunction with an offering to its customers of some of the Category 1 and Category 2 digital services set to launch this September. Another digital solution that has been floated by Cancom for use by small cable systems is CablePlus, but it has not been well received because it requires cablecos to install satellite dishes on their customers’ homes. "HITS-QT is received at our headend and distributed over our cable system through coaxial cable like any other signal, and thus is more compatible with the way cable operators distribute their signals," Baxter says. Westman never tested or launched CablePlus because, according to Baxter, "the biggest barrier to CablePlus from a cable operator perspective was the fact it involved a satellite dish. We didn’t want to be in a position where we were promoting our competitor’s technology."

Small cable systems look to HITS-QT as cost effective way of going digital

Broadcast | August 15, 2001

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