Numericable brings Ushuaia HD / Eurosport HD to French subscribers

Read - Ushuaia HD addition
Read - Eurosport HD addition
Read - TF1 agreement
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With enough bandwidth to support 1080p video on-demand, France's Numericable has apparently found space left over in its MPEG-4 DOCSIS 3.0 network to add five new channels. All due before the end of the month, Melody Zen and Brava HDTV jump into the Premium Plus channel lineup, while Euro 1080, i-Concerts HD and Ushuaïa TV HD head to the premium package. No MTV Networks?
Despite word from France Television's director of sports programming that HD wouldn't be available for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, France 2 HD has already launched on CanalSat DTH and Numéricable. Unlike the Versus broadcast here, French viewers are also getting the Tour de France in HD and can expect the same from their Olympic coverage. Meanwhile Belgians can thank TV Vlaanderen for adding VRT's Eén HD temporarily to its DTH platform, delivering both events in HD, along with Belgacom TV adding Eén HD, France 2 HD, Eurosport HD and TF1 HD for a total of 13 high definition channels. Really, we can't see watching the Olympics any other way.
That DOCSIS 3.0 technology isn't going to waste, as Numericable is apparently going to be one of the first providers to broadcast 1080p content. The 11.25Mbps MPEG-4 streams will include videos from CinéPlay, TF1 Vision and I-Concerts, so you can check out Amy Winehouse's tattoos, pockmarks and teeth in glorious full HD, before quickly switching to National Treasure for some eyebleach. Those with the Cablebox HD can get the titles for €4.99/€3.99/€2.99 depending on the type. All we can say for U.S. operators is where's ours?
While the likes of Comcast (among others) won't have DOCSIS 3.0 ready to roll out until sometime next year, France's Numericable is already dishing out the high-speed goodness. Reportedly, the French cable operator has stretched its all-fiber network to Angers, Martigues, Marseille, Lille and Metz over the past month or so, bringing the total homes touched by said network to over two million. For the lucky residents of the aforementioned cities, they are now able to receive blazing fast internet (up to 100Mbps), HDTV, VOD and lots more. If your locale wasn't mentioned, take heart, as the company is purportedly aiming to reach some 70 cities by mid-year.









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