BCNETwork News
 
September 2005

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Joins The OPEN Student Television Network

MIT to Provide IP Television to Students, Staff and Faculty.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it has joined the OPEN Student Television Network (OSTN). By joining OSTN, students, staff and faculty at MIT will be able to securely access student television shows developed by peer institutions such as University of Southern California, Syracuse University, Ohio State University, Indiana University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and broadcast television programming from content providers such as NBC Universal, FOX and Starz! Encore on their laptops and PCs.

The Open Student Television Network (OSTN) is a hosted IP Television service that offers student-produced broadcast programming over Abilene- Internet2's nationwide high-speed backbone network which provides end-users with speeds 100-1000 times faster than the average household broadband connection to laptops and desktop PCs. The network reaches over 3 million users, 206 research and educational institutions, and 34 state education networks.

OSTN has also negotiated bulk discounts from major television content providers such as NBC Universal, FOX, and Starz Encore Group for secure delivery of their programming over campuses' commercial Internet connections to the desktop using conditional access and digital rights management Institutions participating in OSTN opt-in and pay a la carte for the programming on the OSTN IP Television service.

The Open Student Television Network Channel is a national initiative of student television stations working together to build a digital channel of student television shows. On the OSTN Channel, students are not only creating content but they are also making the important programming decisions that appeal to their peer viewing audience. The OSTN Channel provides opportunities for students through resources, community, exposure and experience. The OSTN Channel gives voice to students by connecting schools' TV stations through video content sharing and digital delivery of student-produced video content to the PC and TV.

"MIT Cable's participation in the OPEN Student Television Network will furnish MIT students with an exceptional opportunity to have their work seen at over 70 universities. OSTN creates possibilities for student collaboration on a scale unimaginable only several years ago," said Randy Winchester, Team Leader for MIT Cable Television at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I am anticipating that OSTN will encourage many new students to get involved with video production, and may very well kindle a renaissance in student video production."

"Everyone here is really excited to have MIT join OSTN and look forward to collaborating on many levels with such a respectable university, especially in the HD area." says Shane Walker, Vice President of OSTN Studios. "The bulk discount agreements, which OSTN has negotiated with the television content providers, will help MIT to decrease the costs of providing IP television to the student, staff and faculty community."

For more information on the Open Student Television Network send an e-mail to information@ostn.tv. To apply for membership in the Open Student Television Network, visit http://www.ostn.tv/join.shtm.

About MIT

The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

About CampusEAI Consortium

Led by over 100 primary, secondary, and post-secondary education institutions in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States, CampusEAI Consortium is a Cleveland-based, non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating the development and exchange of community-source software and digital content. For more information, visit www.campuseai.org.

About Internet2

Internet2 is a consortium being led by 206 universities working in partnership with industry and government to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 is recreating the partnership among academia, industry and government that fostered today's Internet in its infancy.

About Open Student Television network

Launched by Internet2 and the CampusEAI Consortium, the OPEN Student Television Network (OSTN) is a hosted IP Television service that offers traditional broadcast television programming and university produced programming securely over Internet2 to laptops and desktop PCs.

INFORMATION:
Randy Winchester
Team Leader, MIT Cable Television
Massachusetts Institutes of Technology
(617) 253-7431; Randy@MIT.edu

Rishu Sharma
Director of Communications
The CampusEAI Consortium
(216)791-6469; rishu_sharma@campuseai.org

Rich Griffin
Vice President of Technology
OPEN student Television Network
(216)470-6183;
rich_griffin@ostn.tv