A couple of alternatives to a regional control scheme are available today. These include using a national control service or implementing a local control scheme where a DAC is located in and manages each headend. A national control service is good for smaller operators that want to take advantage of digital cable but don t want to make the financial and operational investments necessary. The national control service provider would manage the digital set-top terminals as well as the headend equipment for a monthly fee. This arrangement frees the cable operator from the need to purchase, install and manage a control system while letting him offer digital cable services.
Local control is the traditional way to run a cable operation.
Each headend has a dedicated controller for its local operations. This setup gives the cable operator complete control over the system, but at the price of installing a DAC and providing personnel technically capable of maintaining such a system at each location. If you do choose to go with a regional DAC system, the key features to look for are flexibility and scalability. Let s examine each of these in turn. The controller must be able to adapt to any number of configurations and allow the system s headend components and set-top terminals to be managed efficiently and effectively.