Comcast picks Philadelphia for switched digital video

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), which some thought had given up on the idea of switched digital video (SDV) in favor of an all-digital play, is back in the SDV game in its own backyard. Multiple sources have told Light Reading Cable's Jeff Baumgartner that the big MSO will deploy Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) SDV technology in Philadelphia.

Comcast never really abandoned SDV, which its engineering execs have touted for years as a way to save bandwidth and deliver more services; it put it on a back burner while it transitioned its subscriber base from analog to digital. Since Philadelphia was one of the first A/D markets and since it's a good place for Comcast's engineers to keep an eye on what's happening, it makes sense the initial SDV rollouts would happen there. Of course, in keeping with their ongoing policy to speak only when held to a Bunsen burner, Comcast declined to comment even to Baumgartner about the plans.

Something Comcast was willing to talk about--or at least blog about--is its work with Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), the suite of specifications aimed at securing authentication of DNS data. Chris Griffiths, manager of DNS Engineering in Innovation blogged that trials that started in February "have gone very well."

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