Southern Light Deploys Pleora's cost-effective Ethercast™ IP Engines for distribution of HDTV over fiber-based networks across US Gulf States

Pleora's EtherCast IP Engines cost 75% less per port than its competitors
EtherCast's affordability, scalability, and reliability key to success in cost-effective HDTV transport applications

OTTAWA, CANADA, April 11, 2008: Pleora Technologies, a global supplier of Ethernet video connectivity products, and Southern Light, a leading provider of fiber optic-based communications solutions, today announced that Southern Light is deploying Pleora's EtherCast IP Engines in a number of its facilities for the distribution of HDTV video streams to regional and local TV stations along the US Gulf Coast.

The EtherCast engines met Southern Light's strict requirements with regards to reliability, scalability, multicast support and price. In particular, Southern Light recognized that the exceptionally cost-effective EtherCast product family was able to deliver reliable, high-quality HDTV streams at a fraction of the cost of many of its competitors.

"Pleora's EtherCast IP engines performed flawlessly in our trials and cost 75% less per port compared to other products we were evaluating for this deployment," says Jeff Hollon, Senior Network Engineer at Southern Light. "The affordability of the EtherCast IP engines gives us a distinct competitive advantage. We're able to offer our customers a reliable, high-quality video transport solution at very competitive rates."

Southern Light owns and operates an advanced fiber-optic based network and up to a dozen EtherCast engines are used to transport 19.39 Mb/s DVB-ASI (Digital Video Broadcast– Asynchronous Serial Interface) streams to TV stations in the region.

The EtherCast engines are connected to fiber-optic Cisco SONET routers featuring RPR (Resilient Packet Ring) technology. RPR is designed for optimized transport of data over fiber networks, and combines the resilience found in SONET/SDH networks with the flexibility and affordability of packet based transmission.

"The quality and reliability of managed IP networks make them an attractive and cost-effective option for transporting DVB-ASI streams," said George Chamberlain, President of Pleora Technologies. "The successful Southern Light deployment shows that using EtherCast for IP delivery of DVB-ASI streams allows carriers, cable companies, ISPs, studios and others to deliver new services very cost-effectively."

Field-proven reliability

The EtherCast Video IP Engines share the award-winning IP engine technology offered in Pleora's world-leading line of iPORT™ products for vision, medical, and military applications.

Pleora's EtherCast engines do not alter the original signal, and there are no video or audio quality compromises. Jitter control is exceptional, transfer is lossless, and end-to end latency is low and predictable. Any packets dropped by the network are automatically recovered.

EtherCast IP engines are available as small-format, single-channel units (EtherCast PL1453A, and the upcoming next-generation EtherCast ASI-Pro), and as four-channel 1U rack-mounted systems (EtherCast PL4453A). The small footprint and low power requirements make EtherCast an ideal OEM board for inclusion in third-party equipment.

About Pleora

Pleora Technologies Inc. is a global supplier of Ethernet video connectivity products for the broadcast, medical, machine vision, and security/surveillance industries. Pleora's iPORT and EtherCast product families transport imaging and video data in real time over low-cost Ethernet connections with extremely high performance. Pleora is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For more information: www.pleora.com

About Southern Light

Founded in 1998, Southern Light is the leading provider of fiber optic-based communications solutions along the Gulf Coast, delivering large bandwidth solutions to telecommunication carriers, government agencies, and enterprise customers throughout the region. With over 1850 route miles of high-count fiber networks and approximately 800 facilities as of 2007, Southern Light has an unmatched ability to reach end users with fiber solutions. For more information: www.slfiber.com