Mediaset Tunes into Cisco Systems for Next-Generation TV Production Network

International Broadcasting Convention, Amsterdam, September 10, 2004 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that Mediaset, Italy's largest privately-owned communications and broadcasting group, has deployed an optical network from Cisco® to connect its branch offices across the Rome metropolitan area and to help provide the business with a next-generation production network. Because of local restrictions on laying new fibre under Rome's streets, Mediaset is using the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform (MSTP) to get the most value out of the fibre provided by Albacom, by running multiple optical channels over each fibre.

The new fibre optic network, based on dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) optical technology, will help remove some of the bottlenecks and weather-based transmission issues experienced with the microwave radio-based links it replaces. The new transmission system will also help support the evolution to an entirely digital production environment as the group prepares for the expected switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial TV (DTT) scheduled for 2007.

"Thanks to Cisco Systems® technology, we are able to build very strategic, business-orientated applications that make it easier to do our jobs, or to move or sell content to a third party," said Marco Pellegrinato, deputy director of Technical Engineering of Mediaset Group. "The DWDM platform from Cisco Systems is the bedrock of our solution in Rome. As the development of our fibre optic network continues, we expect DWDM to prove to be one of the most effective solutions available to us."

Moreover, Mediaset sees DWDM-based optical networks as the model for a new foundation for linking the entire group's branch offices throughout Italy, and the basis for a national infrastructure to help support new ways of highly efficient and innovative program making. A key requirement for Mediaset is to reduce complexity and cost by deploying a single multiservice platform.

"We selected the ONS 15454 because we needed a platform that is capable of supporting both the TDM [time-division multiplexing] and DWDM requirements of our production centres, as well as the Fast Ethernet- and Gigabit Ethernet-based services needed for corporate network traffic," added Pellegrinato.

"Mediaset's deployment is a prime example of how the combination of bandwidth and multiservice flexibility offered by this solution can help provide the most cost-effective and versatile way of maximising leased fibre optic capacity," said Stefano Venturi, vice president and general manager, Italy, for Cisco Systems EMEA. "As broadcasters increasingly move towards digitised production and archiving of video content, the capabilities of our multiservice optical platforms reflect the growing requirement to support a wide range of protocols, including Fibre Channel storage traffic."

Mediaset has adopted the Cisco Complete Optical Multiservice Edge and Transport (COMET) solution, based on the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP to help underpin the next-generation production network in Rome. Serial Digital Interface- (SDI) and Asynchronous Serial Interface- (ASI) based digital video streams are transported alongside Gigabit Ethernet-based traffic on the optical ring. Cisco Catalyst 6500 series switches with optical gigabit interface converters (GBICs) connect to the optical ring and also provide high-speed Ethernet connectivity for production facilities and individual employees within each site.