AboveNet UK launches private optical service for media, broadcast markets

May 17, 2005 London, UK -- AboveNet Communications UK, a provider of fiber connectivity platforms for businesses, has launched its Metro-Cast managed optical network service, which the company says is especially designed to support media and broadcast markets. According to the company, the service will enable companies transferring broadcast content between sites with a cost-effective alternative to other currently available platforms.

According to the company, like its five managed services launched within the London metro market in 2004, the Metro-Cast service also combines the company's secure dark fiber network with broadcast technology from a leading hardware vendor, in order to deliver a platform that seamlessly connects two premises, enabling the transmission of media content in formats including serial digital interface (SDI), high definition television (HDTV), and Audio Engineering Society (AES) standard-compliant.

The company says the service enables its customers to build a modular platform that suits the delivery of all media content. The company notes that connection to its dark fiber network also benefits its customers by allowing them to integrate the company's other products in order to develop private or community-based networks.

"Metro-Cast further projects us into a market where we have seen a huge increase in demand for high capacity network solutions over the last year," concludes John Dowbiggin, AboveNet's UK managing director. "With our increasing number of customer wins within the media sector, AboveNet is ideally positioned to provide an efficient and cost-effective alternative to those businesses looking for a secure and flexible way of transferring massive digital content."