Level 3 Communications, Inc. [Nasdaq: LVLT] announced their expansion of its Vyvx services platform to include broadcast video distribution in Europe. The expansion enables more efficient distribution of North American broadcast programming to Europe and provides European customers access to broadcast video delivery over the Level 3 network.
“As one of the largest and most connected IP networks in the world, Level 3 is now capitalizing on the reach of our network to expand the Vyvx services platform,” said Grant van Rooyen, president of Level 3’s Content Markets Group. “This expansion builds on our proven track record of performance in the broadcast industry and provides our customers with the comprehensive service portfolio to continue expanding their global broadcast distribution.”
The expansion of the Vyvx services platform to Europe includes new point-of-presence (POP) facilities at the Level 3 gateway in London. New digital video encoding and publishing equipment at the London POP facilitates fiber-based transmission of high-quality, broadcast video in Europe. Access to fiber-based delivery augments Level 3’s existing capabilities to support broadcast video downlinks to satellite facilities across Europe. With these enhanced capabilities, Level 3 now offers the full range of Vyvx broadcast video services in Europe that have been available to broadcast customers in North America.
As part of this expansion of Vyvx services to Europe, Level 3 also added satellite downlink capabilities in Berlin. These new capabilities improve end-to-end monitoring of video quality for broadcast traffic delivered via satellite. Level 3 now operates four satellite facilities: Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California and Berlin, Germany.
For nearly 20 years, Level 3 Vyvx services have enabled fiber-based transmission of broadcast video for major television networks, professional sport leagues and other live events, such as the presidential inauguration, debates and conventions, as well annual awards shows for the entertainment industry. Vyvx services transport high-definition (HD) and standard-definition video over the Level 3 network either between customer facilities or to satellite teleports. Vyvx also carries live video signals to broadcast encoding centers on the Level 3 network. These centers format broadcast content for online video streaming and on-demand viewing that is enabled by the Level 3 content delivery network (CDN).
In 2008, Level 3 Vyvx services covered more than 17,000 entertainment, broadcast and sporting events in North America with over 158 million minutes of video traffic, an approximate 15 percent increase over 2007. The company averages more than 15,000 fiber and satellite reservations per month of total video broadcast traffic over the Level 3 network.
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