Consolidated Communications untethers IPTV

In a move that could boost the prospects for the deployment of in-home wireless IPTV architectures in the U.S. market, Illinois-based independent telco Consolidated Communications is deploying the Ruckus Wireless MediaFlex "Smart Wi-Fi" multimedia system as its new in-home connectivity standard.

Consolidated, which had almost 20,000 TV customers in Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania as of the beginning of July, is believed to be the largest formally-announced U.S. telco customer for the Ruckus system. AT&T previously has been reported to be testing (or getting ready to test) the system. Pioneer Telephone in Oklahoma was the first U.S. telco to tout its deployment of the Ruckus system.

Using WiFi as in-home connectivity for IPTV is increasingly common in other countries, but has yet to take hold in the U.S. Benefits include faster deployment and less cost to deploy vs. other newer wire-based cabling methods. In recent years, Ruckus also has  improved continually the ability of its system to support HDTV and other advanced TV services and bandwidth-eating applications.

For more:
- Reuters has this press release [1]

Related articles
Consolidated Communications grew its IPTV customer base in Q2 [2]
AT&T reportedly was set to test the Ruckus system [3]