CESNET and the Óèko Television Station: A Pilot Project for Broadcasting over the Internet

The CESNET Association has started collaborating with Óèko Music TV in the area of Internet broadcasting. This cooperation consists of implementing a pilot program for broadcasting Óèko TV over the Internet (IPTV) and concurrently ensuring distribution with the aid of new technologies:

• IPv6 – all forms of broadcasting will subsequently be accessible, both over current Internet Protocol as well as over its successor – IPv6;
• a high level of quality for video and sound – one-half of the data streams will be available in PAL television resolution; and
• new distribution formats – one-half of the data streams will be available in OGG open source format encoded by Theora codec.

All forms of broadcasts will be available free of charge to all Internet users who have a sufficient connection capacity. They can be accessed at: http://ocko.idnes.cz/stream.asp.

"We highly value the fact that the CESNET Association has helped us successfully start a unique project. I'm glad that, within the framework of the new Show.iDNES.cz server, we can offer what is at this time the highest-quality video stream broadcasting over the Internet for Óèko TV," said Jaroslav Kábele, Internet Project Director for the MAFRA Media Group, TV Óèko's parent company.

The CESNET Association anticipates that the operational results will be evaluated after the end of the pilot project, which will run for about a year, and if any of the aforementioned technologies are routinely available on the standard Internet market, the pilot operations will be transferred to a different commercial provider.

The CESNET association was founded by universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. It is currently financed primarily by its members and the Research and Development Council. The association operates and develops CESNET2, the national gigabit optical network intended for research and education, and participates in the research and development of information and communication technologies. Thanks to its research activities and achieved results, the CESNET association represents the Czech Republic in the European GN2 project, as well as in other international projects. Among other countries, the association currently cooperates with Canada, the Netherlands, and the USA on the construction of GLIF (Global Lambda Integrated Facility), a global lambda network whose Czech section is called CzechLight.