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BigBand Networks Announces Successful Completion of the Largest Switched Broadcast Deployment in a Single Cable System With Cablevision

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 January 2007, 12:00 CST

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- BigBand Networks, Inc., a leading provider of network platforms for video, voice and data services, today announced the successful completion of the largest-ever switched broadcast deployment in a single cable system with Cablevision. Cablevision is using BigBand's Switched Broadcast technology to deliver nine new, in-language programming services, featuring dozens of international channels from around the world, to customers across its entire service area. Through its work with Cablevision, the fifth largest U.S. cable operator, BigBand Networks counts nine of the top ten U.S. cable operators as customers.

"With BigBand's Switched Broadcast, we can significantly increase the number of channels we can provide to customers over our existing hybrid fiber coaxial cable network," said Patricia Gottesman, Cablevision's executive vice president of product management and marketing. "We are using BigBand Networks' groundbreaking technology today to deliver nine distinct, in-language international programming options across our entire service area, and we see this as an important tool in our efforts to deliver new choices for our diverse and growing customer base."

BigBand's Switched Broadcast is designed to enhance the efficiency of bandwidth and network resources that cable operators use to provide digital programming, thereby reserving capacity for more program choices and bandwidth-intensive services such as HDTV. With switched broadcast, digital television programs are dynamically directed to those areas in which subscribers are actively requesting them, so that only those programs being watched consume bandwidth in any given area. Resulting plant efficiencies can be leveraged to grow offerings to subscribers, including expansion of the types of ethnic and foreign language programming Cablevision has deployed using the technology.

"Cablevision shares BigBand's emphasis on innovation; the operator is a leader in delivering advanced digital services and programming to its customers," said Amir Bassan-Eskenazi, president and chief executive officer of BigBand Networks. "Cablevision also emphasizes operational excellence, and we were particularly pleased that we were able to roll this out quickly and exceed the operator's expectations. BigBand's customers are now benefiting from the company's two years of field deployment experience with switched broadcast, a technology that remains one of the most economical methods to service and programming expansion."

In cable networks, the current practice of filling the entire spectrum with live broadcast programming at all times has recently been supplemented by more video switching, including on-demand applications in which stored content is directed from centralized servers to specific geographic areas where subscribers request viewing sessions. Switched broadcast extends this model through a centralized management server that monitors subscriber selections of live programs, and directs the initiation and completion of switching them to areas in which viewing sessions occur. BigBand Networks provides the management server, its Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR(R)), for the processing of live video streams to be switched and its Broadband Multimedia- Service Edge (BME(TM)), which can perform switching and digital modulation. The solution also incorporates standards-based interfaces to work with other devices and components.

BigBand's Switched Broadcast solution is designed to enable a range of benefits, including:

* Expansion of available programming for cable subscribers, including content designed for specific demographic audiences that might not be economical to deliver without switched broadcast * Efficiency gains without capital-intensive upgrades achieved by delivering only the live programs requested in each service area * Integration with many popular set-top boxes, including PVRs, without requiring any change to subscribers' viewing habits, and while maintaining EPG lineups * A path towards even greater efficiency by dynamically sharing bandwidth with other interactive video, voice and data services * Additional service enhancements that may, in the future, be achievable with switched content, such as targeted advertising and faster channel changing.

For additional information about BigBand Networks' Switched Broadcast, please visit http://www.bigbandnet.com/products/sol_switch_broadcast.php.

About BigBand Networks

BigBand Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of broadband multimedia infrastructure for video, voice and data. The company's solutions are designed to process, optimize, and deliver services such as broadband Internet, VoIP, digital broadcast television, HDTV, transport of high quality video, local advertising, VOD, interactive TV and IPTV across coaxial cable, fiber or copper. Service providers use BigBand Networks' platforms in efforts to cost- effectively expand revenue-generating offerings of rich content and advanced interactive services. Customers include six of the ten largest service providers in the U.S., and leading service providers in North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Founded in 1998, BigBand Networks is based in Redwood City, Calif., with offices worldwide. For more information, please call 650-995-5000, email info@bigbandnet.com or visit http://www.bigbandnet.com/.

BMR, BME and all other BigBand Networks brand and product names are service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of BigBand Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements regarding the features, performance, competitiveness and benefits of BigBand Networks' products and solutions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including Cablevision's future plans for the use of switched broadcast, the value Cablevision will receive from use of this technology and the additional service enhancements to BigBand's switched broadcast solution that are anticipated in the future and the benefits, such as targeted advertising and faster channel changing, that may be achieved from such enhancements, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include a variety of factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. BigBand Networks disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. For a more complete discussion of our risk factors, readers are encouraged to review our S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Press Contacts: Jonathan Bass Brian Baumley BigBand Networks Cohn & Wolfe (415) 695-4140 (212) 798-9813 jonathan.bass@bigbandnet.com brian_baumley@cohnwolfe.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061220/NYW049LOGO

BigBand Networks, Inc.

CONTACT: Jonathan Bass of BigBand Networks, +1-415-695-4140,jonathan.bass@bigbandnet.com; or Brian Baumley of Cohn & Wolfe,+1-212-798-9813, brian_baumley@cohnwolfe.com

Web site: http://www.bigbandnet.com/http://www.bigbandnet.com/products/sol_switch_broadcast.php

Source: PRNewswire

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