SpectraRep^® to Demonstrate New DTV Datacasting Services from Nashville Public TV at Capitol Hill Event

Chantilly, VA - August 29, 2003 - SpectraRep^® (www.spectrarep.com), the leader in digital television data networking solutions, today announced that it is working with Nashville Public Television (NPT) (www.wnpt.net) to demonstrate upcoming education and public safety services at an event before Congress in Washington, DC, including a branded video on demand service that is provisioned by unitedstreaming.

SpectraRep® is enabling the NPT demonstration at the fourth annual "Ed-Tech & Ice Cream" event, sponsored by the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). SpectraRep® will demonstrate NPT’s upcoming datacasting services in Washington DC by using the digital TV spectrum of a local public TV station.

The event will be at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-338 on Capitol Hill from 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3. This informative event will be hosted by the House Public Broadcasting Caucus.

This demonstration is part of a broader relationship between SpectraRep® and Nashville Public Television, in which SpectraRep® is assisting NPT and the other Tennessee broadcasters design business models and services around their DTV datacasting capacity. According to Steve Bass, President of NPT, “The mandatory transition to digital television broadcasting provides an unparalleled opportunity for a new generation of wireless services that can improve educational attainment and enhance the safety of Tennessee residents”.

Digital television signals are capable of delivering up to 19 Mbps - equivalent to nearly 13 T-1 lines - of any type of content that can be digitized, over a wide geographic area. SpectraRep® is also assisting in NPT in procuring funding for these services, including state and Federal contracts, grants and other sources.

NPT’s datacasting system, which will be designed and integrated by SpectraRep®, will be ideally suited to facilitate distance learning and the distribution of multimedia broadband content course materials throughout the greater Nashville, Tennessee area. The unitedstreaming service, available over high-speed Internet connections or DTV datacasting, provides:

• The largest and most current K-12 video/video clip library available today (over 2,000 videos at up to 700 kbps)
• The only standards-based video-on-demand application shown to increase student achievement
• Practical teacher and student learning resources
• Access to a wide variety of producers, including NPT’s own locally-produced programming.

According to Rick Ducey, President of SpectraRep®, “We are committed to delivering real world successes to Tennessee’s public television stations across the country by maximizing their datacasting opportunities for services including distance education and teacher training.”

Briefing materials on the educational portion of the datacasting demo can be seen online here.

SpectraRep® will also assist NPT and the other Tennessee public broadcasters to develop DTV datacasting capabilities and applications which can provide government agencies throughout Tennessee with an effective, flexible and rapidly deployable means of communicating emergency warning, preparedness training, incident response data, and other information critical for homeland security and public safety coordination.

DTV datacasting means real-time information delivery across geographic and organizational boundaries. DTV datacasting also means high availability for emergency networks - to meet new security requirements, agencies often need to have a plan or network in place to ensure rapid recovery and delivery of services and information if the primary network goes down. A DTV datacasting network can be a redundant or an overlay network to address these contingencies.

According to Edward Czarnecki, SpectraRep’s Managing Director of Strategic Advisory Services, and homeland security program coordinator, “DTV datacasting technology can provide local, state and federal agencies with unique capabilities suited to immediately meet the requirements of a range homeland security needs. Datacasting means real-time information delivery across geographic and organizational boundaries. Datacasting means high availability for emergency networks - including if telephone, cellular or internet network become congested or are disrupted.”

^{About SpectraRep®... SpectraRep® is a professional services group offering a full range of technology and advisory services for business and government, including:}

• ^{Business planning, financial modeling, market research and sales strategies.}
• ^{Communications and DTV datacasting systems planning and implementation.}
• ^{Technology strategy and enabling.}
• ^{Outsourced project and program management.}

<sup>SpectraRep® designs datacasting solutions based on particular customer needs for communication, education, homeland security and information distribution. SpectraRep®’s DTV datacasting services combine data transmission with digital television broadcasting to provide effective, flexible and rapidly deployable wireless broadband transmission systems. The SpectraRep® expertise in wireless broadband delivery technologies turn customers' communications needs into innovative solutions using the latest digital technologies. For additional information, visit www.spectrarep.com. SpectraRep® is a wholly owned subsidiary of BIA Financial Network (www.bia.com), a premier financial and management consulting firm serving the broadcasting, entertainment and telecommunications industries for over 20 years.

About the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS)... APTS is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1980 to support the continued growth and development of a strong and financially sound noncommercial television service for the American public. APTS provides advocacy for public television interests at the national level, as well as consistent leadership and information in marshaling support for its members: the nation's public television stations. APTS' affiliated organization, APTS Action, Inc., provides legislative advocacy and seeks grassroots and congressional support.</sup>

^{APTS works to identify current and emerging issues, which directly influence public television's ability to serve audiences both now and in the future. APTS provides the means for stations to help define themselves in the digital age. For more information visit www.apts.org.}

^####