Buckeye CableSystem Selects Spirent’s In-Home MoCA Testing Solution

Spirent Tech-X Flex is the Industry’s First and only MoCA-certified Field Test Tool

Sunnyvale, Calif. - (December 17, 2009) — Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT), a global leader in network, services and device testing, today announced that Buckeye CableSystem, a regional cable operator servicing northern Ohio and southeast Michigan, selected Spirent’s Tech-X Flex for testing its Multimedia over Coaxial (MoCA) in-home networks and DVR sharing application. Spirent’s market leading in-home tester allows Buckeye to establish and retain customer loyalty while increasing revenue potential by isolating and drilling down to the root causes of MoCA-related service calls.

Advanced video services, including DVR sharing and other multimedia sharing applications delivered over a MoCA based in-home network offer multiple system operators (MSOs) an important competitive edge. However, support costs incurred as a result of quality and performance issues in the home can significantly affect the profitability of MoCA deployments.

“We realized quickly that to successfully deliver DVR sharing over a MoCA network, we needed to equip the technicians with new tools to ensure the service is turned up and managed to meet customer expectations, yet still keep operational costs of troubleshooting in check” said Jim Wolsiffer Director of Technical Operations of Buckeye CableSystem. “Spirent allows us to quickly validate the service performance and pinpoint the root cause of any service affecting issue.”

Tech-X Flex is the only available Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance certified field test tool enabling technicians to efficiently resolve problems occurring inside the home. With Tech-X Flex, cable operators are now able to offer subscribers advanced video services and reduce the operational impact of managing the service.

“Today, technicians revert to replacing routers or set-top boxes and even run new coaxial cable in efforts to resolve in-home MoCA related problems,” said Sean Yarborough, Spirent’s director of strategy and business development. “With Tech-X Flex MSOs can avoid this extremely costly hit-or-miss approach that more often results in repeat dispatches and reduced customer satisfaction.”

Recently, the SCTE in partnership with Spirent released an implication paper titled “Deploying Enhanced Media Services with MoCA” as part of their ongoing efforts to inform and educate their SCTE membership on the requirements and challenges that surround this deployment.

To learn more download the latest application note on installation and maintenance of MoCA and DVR. For more information of Spirent Tech-X Flex visit http://www.spirent.com/Broadband/OSP_and_InHomeTesting/Tech-X-Flex/Tech-X_Flex-MoCA.aspx

About Buckeye CableSystem

Buckeye Cablevision, Inc., is the largest cable firm operating in the Toledo area, with more than 150,000 customers in Toledo and Sandusky. It is the 23rd largest cable operator in the United States. It was founded in 1965 and is the second oldest continuously-owned large-city cable system in the US.

Buckeye CableSystem,® as the firm is known for marketing purposes, offers 70 Standard Service channels and more than 300 Digital channels including 50 high-definition channels; 56 commercial-free digital music channels; 56 multiplexed digital premium channels including 4 high-definition premium channels; pay-per-view, Video-On-Demand, and Digital Video Recorders. Buckeye CableSystem also offers a tiered high-speed cable modem Internet product with speeds up to 20 mb, a dial-up Internet product, a Wireless Internet product, and residential telephone service. In addition, it maintains more than 2,200 miles of fiber optic and more than 2,100 miles of coaxial cable plant.

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Block Communications, Inc. Block Communications is a holding company which also owns Buckeye TeleSystem, a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier; The Blade of Toledo and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, both daily newspapers; Erie County Cablevision, Inc., in Ohio, and broadcast television stations in Lima, OH, Louisville, KY, Springfield/Decatur, IL, and Boise, ID. Block also owns Metro Fiber & Cable Construction Co., also headquartered in Toledo.

Block Communications, with headquarters in Toledo, is a family-owned company tracing its roots to a firm founded in 1900 by the late Paul Block, Sr. Today it is controlled by the third and fourth generations of the family, heirs of his late sons, Paul, Jr., and William Block, Sr.

About Spirent Communications plc