UPC launches green STBs

IBC 2009 – Amsterdam. UPC Broadband is now rolling out a new generation of ‘green’ set-top boxes with its suppliers Cisco, Pace and Thomson.

The new STBs have been designed to use less than 1W in stand-by mode and consume an average of 5.5W. This will significantly reduce power consumption with an anticipated annual power consumption of 32KWh for the HD version and 55KWh for the PVR, if used for 4.5 hours a day.

Deployment of these boxes has started in Switzerland, Ireland and Poland and will commence in Q4 in The Netherlands. The Cisco and Thomson boxes are available now with the Pace product expected some time later.

The operator is also planning a system-wide software upgrade, which will apply to all outstanding STBs and introduce an Auto Standby functionality. This will switch off the set-top if there are no interactions for 3.5 hours.

During a press presentation, Andrew Kearney, VP TV Products of UPC Broadband, said experience showed that there is a peak in the use of the ‘search’ functionality on the STB on Sunday afternoons. “People are busy planning the week ahead and programming their PVR.”

The three set-top are the Thomson DC16211, a SD PVR with dual tuners and up to 65 hours recording, the Cisco 8485 HD PVR with dual tuners and up to 140 hours recording; and the Pace DCR7111, an HD set-top without PVR.