VideoTele.com Launches Astria™, the Compact, Reliable, Multi-functional Content Processing Platform for Broadband Providers

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., May 7, 2001-VideoTele.com, Inc. (VT.c), a Tektronix company (NYSE: TEK) and the single source for service providers deploying innovative home entertainment solutions via the broadband Internet, today launched its comprehensive content processing solution, AstriaÔ. Backed by a company with a 20-year track record of making telcos successful in video, Astria's scalability targets both domestic and international broadband providers (RBOCs, BLECs, IOCs, CLECs) who are committed to growing revenues by delivering broadband home entertainment packages over Full Service Networks. VideoTele.com will hold the first public showing of Astria at SUPERCOMM 2001 in Atlanta, Georgia June 3rd - 7th (VideoTele.com booth #6983, Hall G).

A highly integrated digital head-end solution, Astria offers a complete suite of content processing operations at an economic system price. Astria's high-density chassis design processes over 200 audio and video channels, performing multiple processing operations from demultiplexing to packetization. It leverages VideoTele.com's QualViewÔ content processing technology for maximum video quality, thereby delivering a superior offering to viewers. Astria's compact design and high capacity reduce the costs associated with facilities and switching (rack space, cooling, power supplies, etc.). Similarly, Astria is ideal within space-constrained environments such as multiple dwelling unit (MDU) settings.

"The challenges of multi-channel television services can be overwhelming to telco managers. As a result, DSL-based telecommunications providers are looking for a hassle-free, quality of service oriented, video transmission solution in a single convenient package. Integrated head-end products like Astria, with its QoS-enhancing QualView core, allow providers to focus on their new business initiatives rather than fretting over the intricacies of their video infrastructure,” noted Ryan Jones, Media and Entertainment Strategies Analyst for The Yankee Group.

The hallmark of Astria is its ability to process pre-encoded content, which is accomplished by VideoTele.com's unique, industry-leading QualViewÔ technology. QualView's data-intact algorithm preserves the full quality of the input video when converting satellite-based variable bit rate (VBR) to constant bit rate (CBR) for delivery over the emission network. Traditional products have been able to output only VBR, or achieved CBR through techniques that dropped data and introduced a generation loss in quality.

Astria is already experiencing success with S2 Entertainment™ who has purchased the product for their content processing center (CPC or head-end) in Bellevue, Washington. They have found that Astria is proving to be very beneficial in their ongoing development of next generation interactive television services to consumers.

"S2 Entertainment selected the Astria product to fulfill the requirements of a very robust television product offering that includes over 200 channels of streamed video content, plus VOD content, PVR, and digital and analog ads. The QualView features provide a way to groom the incoming digital signals, while also providing the capability to encode analog content in the same chassis," said Brent Meldrum, S2 Vice President of Engineering and Technology. Commenting on the product's ability to pack an adaptable, multifunction architecture in less space than a two-foot cube, Meldrum notes that, "Astria provides a more compact footprint, therefore reducing the amount of space required in the Content Processing Center."

Astria also excels at meeting providers' demands for high reliability in a service offering. Hot-swappable components and redundant power supplies ensure high availability while the multi-function Quad Stream Processor boards safeguard providers' technology investment by facilitating the addition of new applications in the future. An interface with VideoTele.com's Aveon Element Management software not only significantly reduces the costs and expertise associated with managing Astria's video and audio processing resources, but it also enables providers to decrease system down-time, thereby delivering improved Quality of Service (QoS) and raising satisfaction among subscribers. Aveon's capacity for remote management, its scalability for managing both small and large head-ends and its ability to simultaneously control, configure and monitor multiple hardware resources and functions improves the over-all reliability and flexibility of the Astria system.

"According to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the U.S. market for broadband access grew 62% last year. VideoTele.com's Astria platform is well positioned to allow broadband providers to leverage this growth by delivering high revenue home entertainment offerings on their broadband networks," said Douglas Shafer, VideoTele.com Chief Executive Officer. "The density and scalability of the Astria solution creates an ideal platform for facilitating multiple broadband applications that generate these sort of lucrative opportunities."

Pricing and Availability
Astria is available immediately. The pricing of an Astria system is dependent on channel count and other customer specifications.

About the Companies

S2 Entertainment™
S2 Entertainment™ is a trade name for SouthernSkies Communications Group, Inc., a Virginia Beach based firm offering a turnkey, end-to-end solution for telcos, MDU operators, and alternative network providers deploying broadcast quality video and interactive services over a VDSL platform. S2 provisions and processes video and interactive content through its regional content processing centers (CPC’s). The network enabling and customer premise equipment belong to S2, so the operator does not incur a large capital outlay to deploy video services, allowing them to compete with cable and satellite providers. S2 also assumes the entire advertising sales function, produces marketing campaign templates to be branded and localized by telcos, and will assist in negotiating local franchise agreements. Additional information on the company can be found by accessing the S2 Entertainment™ corporate website at http://www.s2x.net

VideoTele.com
VideoTele.com is the single source supplier of Digital Head-End solutions enabling home entertainment delivery via the broadband Internet. Building on 20 years of experience in video over telecommunications networks, VideoTele.com assists broadband providers with innovative products, strategic consulting and premier performance in system design, deployment and support. VT.c’s digital head-end solutions are used today at RBOCs, ILECs and CLECs, and VT.c is the number one provider of these products to Independent Operating Companies. Headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, VideoTele.com is a subsidiary of Tektronix, Inc. Additional information on the company can be found by accessing the VideoTele.com Corporate website at: http://www.videotele.com.