--Solution is Integrated with Integra5's i5 C-SDP
At the IBC show in Amsterdam earlier this month, VOD and interactive TV technology provider, SeaChange International, launched the SeaChange TV Platform, an end-to-end IPTV solution which is targeted at the European market and which includes modular client/set-top, network and backoffice software options that the company says are designed to allow operators to rapidly launch quad- play offerings with "vastly differentiated" IPTV services. According to the company, the new platform's applications span on-demand (including nPVR, and DVD's and games on-demand), advanced interactive TV (including walled garden, red-button, weather, voting and tcommerce apps), and convergence (including SMS/MMS apps, caller ID on TV, nPVR programming via mobile or the Web, home media management, and video conferencing). "TV Platform weaves IPTV right into the 'service delivery platform' that operators have already deployed for the rest of their quad play," George Breen, president of SeaChange's interactive division, said in a prepared statement. "It's based on extensive, market-proven software and services and it's ready for deployment today. Operators can run with the individual pieces to complete their infrastructure, or roll out the entire suite for a turnkey IPTV business."
According to SeaChange, TV Platform will allow operators to easily brand, launch and bill for a range of services from SeaChange and third-party developers. The company says that it is based on industry standards, allowing operators to plug-and-play such third-party components as DRM, EPG's, and content acquisition technologies, and also to decouple critical business functions, such as product promotion and asset management. The platform's various modular software components include:
- SeaChange TV Navigator Four, described by the company as a client middleware that allows telco, satellite, cable, terrestrial and hybrid operators to offer a range of on-demand, convergence and advanced subscriber services over their set-tops. It also includes ancillary applications, such as an EPG that incorporates subscriber customization, a preference engine and cross-application search (broadcast, VOD, PVR, Internet), and a third-party application launcher.
- SeaChange TV Business System, which handles backoffice operations such as subscriber management (service allocation, provisioning, billing, subscriber profiles); campaign management (packaging, pricing, promotions, and reports back to management staff); DRM; service and asset management, including channel line-up, barker channel and application service management; and an OSS/BSS interface.
- SeaChange Axiom Core software, which handles IPTV network resources (servers, storage and bandwidth); session and resource management; propagation services; connection management; asset management; and real-time system performance monitoring.
SeaChange is also touting the fact that it can provide customers of its TV Platform with aggregated on-demand and pay-per-view content, content prep tools and media services from its London-based content- aggregator subsidiary, ON Demand Group, whose existing customer base includes ntl, FilmFlex, Front Row and Mirador. The company also says that it can provide creative development/promotional, user interface customization, and new business development services.
SeaChange says that TV Platform is fully interoperable with Integra5's Converged Services Delivery Platform (i5 C-SDP), making up a combined solution that European IPTV operators can use to deliver an expanded portfolio of converged quad-play applications and services across multiple household devices, including TV's and PC's. Integra5 touts the IMS-enabled i5 C-SDP as allowing service providers to efficiently deliver converged communications and content to any IP device, using its own or third-party apps, with minimal network overhead. The companies say that their combined solution will allow operators to deploy an open, scalable infrastructure for a wide variety of converged, on-demand, and advanced interactive TV applications. According to the companies, the joint solution will also provide end-users with the ability to personalize these services and to choose which devices receive which services. The solution has the processing power needed for real-time delivery and management of signals and information between data, telephone (both PSTN and IP), cable TV (both traditional and IP-based), and mobile phone networks, the companies say. "European service providers are looking for open, integrated technology to build their IPTV networks and quickly deliver the latest content and applications to subscribers," SeaChange's director of IPTV platforms, Venkat Krishnan, said in a prepared statement. "Our modular TV Platform allows for cost-effective delivery of the latest converged quad-play services without significant network overhaul. Integra5's i5 C-SDP is a complementary solution that extends IPTV into converged applications that blur the line between voice, video and high speed data services. Our combined offering will allow IPTV service providers to differentiate themselves from competing cable offerings with unique, customizable converged services that also provide incremental revenue opportunities."
Originally Published: September 27, 2006 in [itvt] Issue 6.96 Part 2
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