Stofa first to deploy Cisco's CCAP in Europe

Danish broadband and cable-TV provider Stofa has deployed the Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) from Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), enabling the operator to simultaneously handle video-on-demand (VOD) and high-speed broadband traffic within the same access platform.

Owned by Danish energy supplier Syd Energi, Stofa is Denmark's second-largest cable-TV and consumer broadband company with approximately 600,000 customers, of which 350,000 households have potential access to broadband, smart TV, and telephony via cable.

Cisco says that Stofa is the first cable operator in Europe to converge digital video and data on a common access infrastructure as a step towards an all-IP service architecture.

Based on Cisco's modular CCAP offering, the new deployment will enable Stofa to reduce operational costs, double subscriber broadband speeds, and develop innovative services, such as 4K TV, the company asserts.

"This is a milestone for European cable,” said Yves Padrines, vice president, service provider video, EMEA, Cisco. “With the first European deployment of video and data convergence based on Cisco's CCAP platform, we are proud to be working with Stofa to enable them to innovate and be more competitive."

Stofa has installed the Cisco uBR10012 CMTS with 3G60, PRE5, 3G-SPA and the RFGW10 Universal Edge QAM. With the high-density DS384 line card, Stofa can now better use the existing infrastructure and run both VoD and DOCSIS services through common ports of the DS384 with no RF combining, as defined by CCAP for convergence.

"By simply upgrading to the latest Cisco ubr10K and RFGW10 modules, we are able to double our access capacity, simplify our operations and reduce the rack space and power consumption significantly," said Thomas Helbo, CTO, Stofa.

Stofa plans to use the new platform to test and develop new services such as 4K TV. Taking into account CCAP-customer evaluations and other market factors, Stofa will decide whether to let digital TV replace regular linear programmed TV, which today exists as a parallel technology within Stofa and the market.

The project was carried out in Autumn 2013.

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