Vancouver, CANADA, November 29, 2022 – WISI, a global leader in carrier-grade video technologies, has been chosen by Americable to power their new ABR service delivering multiscreen video to the US military throughout Japan.
Americable has been providing cable TV and internet services to military members in Japan since 1994. With their new IP ABR service, Americable completely removed a lengthy 24 hour delay caused by a technical limitation, enabling subscribers to watch news, sports, and other premium content live rather than a day later.
“We’re very pleased with this new IP offering, and so are our customers. Now, people can watch the news without worrying about spoiling a sports game that hasn’t aired over here yet. Customers can watch it live on any device they choose,” said Brad Shows, Chief Information Officer at Americable.
Once video streams are received at their headend in Japan, Americable processes all video through WISI’s live linear and ABR solution, the Inca IP Video Platform. The Inca IP Video Platform was created to bridge the gap between legacy and future video technologies. Video content can be received and output in multiple formats, and optionally transcoded between HEVC, MPEG-4, and MPEG-2 to ensure compatibility with upstream and downstream equipment.
Rapid configuration and deployment of new projects are made easy with VidiOS™, Inca’s award-winning user interface. This powerful built-in management tool provides unparalleled stream analysis and monitoring, and includes video thumbnails, stream sample downloads, and detailed stream statistics.
“WISI has created a web interface that is really intuitive and easy to use,” said Shows. “It’s very easy to figure out and configure.”
With this new ABR offering, US military members are also able to access multiscreen video on any device, enabling Americable to remove the need for set-top boxes.
“We’ve eliminated the need for customers to rent set-top boxes from us, which had been an added cost to our service. We are rid of the headache of maintaining those boxes and any additional replacement costs,” said Shows. “The ability for our customers to use an end device they are comfortable with is the biggest sell. We’ve given them more flexibility.”
“With the Inca IP Video Platform, video operators can easily upgrade their video services and can expect ongoing software improvements to protect their long-term investment,” said Robert Bell, CEO of WISI America. “We are proud to be chosen by Americable to deliver the best video experience to service members living abroad.”
About WISI Communications
WISI employs 600 people worldwide at locations in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Canada and China. In addition, WISI works with more than 100 partners in all major international markets.
Nine decades ago, the high-tech company’s successful path began as one of the world’s pioneers in radio frequency and broadband technology. Today, new media are driving the rapidly increasing demand for broadband services. Modern broadband networks must be intelligent, powerful and scalable transport solutions. This is our business. As an innovator and technology integrator for key communications sectors, we are committed to innovation, now and in the future. For more information about WISI Communications, visit wisigroup.com
About Americable
Americable has served the US Navy and Marine Corp bases on mainland Japan with CATV and Internet services since 1994. The company streams digital channels of US based video via fiber optic links so that the men and women of the military have access to English language programming. We are proud to be a part of improving the quality of life for our troops serving in Japan
Media Inquiries
WISI Group
marketing@wisigroup.com