Information Technology Services announced a pilot project late last week that would broadcast television over the University network. The pilot is set to start live streaming next Monday with Comedy Central and WFXT, the local Fox affiliate, as test channels before more become available.As with most television hook-ups, Brandeis is wired with coaxial cable that brings about 70 channels into student dorm rooms and other campus locations.

John Turner, an ITS manager, described the project as no longer "delivering via the traditional coaxial method." He said the new system is called IPTV, which will stream video data over the network.

Brandeis is developing the new service with Libertyville, Ill.-based Video Furnace, a company that provides Internet protocol video systems to high-speed private networks like Brandeis'. The company counts among its clients Northwestern University, where its technology was first installed in 2003.

According to ITS Director Anna Tomecka, the current coaxial system is not flexible enough to meet the growing technological needs of the University. Live streaming would allow for changing the channel lineup according to students' preferences, incorporating on-campus programming and aiding the faculty and administration in reaching students via the Internet.

Students will be able to log on to the ITS site with their UNet user names, and a television screen will pop up with channels and their relative schedules, Tomecka said. When users click the desired channel, a TV button expands the window and users can adjust the size of the viewing area.

"Part of the attraction of this new system is the flexibility of delivering internal content, which would give us an additional tool that we haven't really had so far to help faculty in teaching and learning and scholarship initiatives," Tomecka said.

Turner said that this switch will take time, but if the pilot program runs well this semester, students may be watching all channels through live streaming as soon as next fall. He also it is not yet certain how much longer the coaxial cable system will be in place because all students would need to watch television on an Internet browser with the proper plug-ins installed.

According to Chief Information Officer Perry Hanson, students wishing to continue using their regular televisions have two options: They can attach their television to their computer using a video-out card, or they will be able to borrow, rent or buy from ITS a special black box that connects directly into an Internet port, feeding into the TV without a computer.

With live streaming, Hanson said it might be possible for a professor to allow students to view a movie through the streaming service, as opposed to going to the library. Hanson said that copyright issues surrounding this feature are still being worked out.

"One of the things we're committed to doing is keeping the language channels...and to expand the number of language channels that we offer because ultimately, we are a university and our primary goal is teaching," Turner said.

According to Turner, BTV65 has been planning to purchase equipment to broadcast live news for some time. ITS was able to obtain a pilot from Video Furnace for the station's use and prevented BTV from buying equipment incompatible with the new system.

Jason Heyman, a first-year student at Northwestern, said that while it is nice to be able to watch TV and use the computer at the same time, he misses the ability to use a remote.

"Sometimes, when a lot of people are on the network, the video can slow down and become choppy," he said.

Hanson said that he thinks the Brandeis network is configured for the video streaming service and will not experience much degradation.

"Since we have a great high speed Ethernet network on campus already-we run our telephone system over that-it would be pretty reliable," Turner said. "We looked at putting the video signal over there as well."

An ITS press release last Thursday stated that though the change would ultimately lower costs, its cost to the University is undetermined.

There have already been two small-scale trials of the new equipment: Tsunami relief efforts and home basketball games have been shown on the plasma television in the Shapiro Campus Center.

"I just hope that students are going to work with us to make this happen and appreciate the fact that we are kind of cutting edge here, if not a bleeding edge, of technology," Tomecka said.