Cable One is firing up Sparklight TV, a new IP-based TV service that will eventually replace its traditional linear video product.
The Sparklight TV app will be available on streaming devices including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV. The company used the MobiTV Connect platform to build Sparklight TV, which will include video on demand, program restart and DVR capabilities.
The company expects to launch Sparklight TV in select markets in early 2021 and plans to make it available across its footprint by the end of 2021. It said the move from linear video to IPTV will allow for continued spectrum reclamation for more network capacity for current Gigabit offerings and 10G service.
“Our transition to IP-based TV service will enable us to reclaim spectrum in our network needed to continue to expand the capabilities and speeds of our core high speed data product and provide the communities we serve with the fastest and most reliable internet service,” said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of technology services at Cable One, in a statement. “This is even more critical now, with the tremendous increase in customers working and learning from home.”
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Cable One said that more than 97% of the homes passed by Sparklight’s network currently have access to gigabit broadband speeds.
“We continue to make significant investments in deploying fiber deeper and closer to our customers to not only enhance reliability, speed and performance, but lay the groundwork for the increased speeds of the future,” said Johnson. “The digital needs of our residential and business customers are advancing rapidly, and we are actively working to not only meet but exceed those needs by creating a fast and reliable network that will support next generation technology.”
Cable One isn’t the first U.S. cable operator to build an IP-based alternative for its traditional MVPD service. Last year, WideOpenWest launched WOW! tv+ and said it now reaches nearly its entire footprint. MCTV and other cable operators have also worked with MobiTV to prop up IP-based TV services.