Politics & Government

PAT Says Fiber Optics Bring High Quality to Live Broadcasts, Internet Streaming

Peabody Access and the city's light plant have teamed up to install fiber optic cable around Peabody Square to improve live broadcasts and live Internet streaming for viewers at home.

Did you notice a better quality reception on the live broadcast of the International Festival on Sunday?

That's mainly because the and teamed up to install some fiber optic cable for viewers at home.

PMLP installed about a half-mile of fiber optic cable around Peabody Square recently to assist PAT with broadcasting live events in particular and which also allows PAT to produce programs for live Internet streaming from a few sites downtown, which you may have noticed during the festival Sunday.

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There are three sites that were used for the festival: the Leather City Common, the corner of School and Lowell streets and the corner of Chestnut and Lowell streets.

“The new fiber optic cable will improve the quality of television broadcasts from the downtown area into residents’ homes in Peabody,” says Jim Palmer, production manager at PAT.

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PAT says to expect enhanced coverage of the upcoming events as well, such as the city's Veterans Day ceremony, parades and other future downtown activities.

“Back in the day when Comcast came to Peabody, the communication system was state-of-the-art,” said Palmer. "Today, the system is outdated and PAT desperately needed a fiber optic system to effectively communicate events over the Internet and on to the residents’ TV.”

“Working with PMLP saved the day,” said PAT Executive Director Camille Bartlett, indicating it is difficult to get the same type of assistance from Comcast for such a project. “Our new system will open up a lot of opportunities to live stream events downtown for years to come.”

PMLP is a municipal electric utility serving Peabody and South Lynnfield. For more information, go to www.pmlp.com. You can also check out www.peabodytv.com for more information on PAT.


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