--Company Opens New Facilities in Europe, Hires New VP of Services
Silicon Valley-based IPTV middleware and applications provider, Minerva Networks, says that a number of US telcos, including Connexion Technologies and Paul Bunyan Telephone, have recently selected the new version 3.0 of its flagship iTVManager middleware platform to power new IPTV services. According to the company, iTVManager 3.0 offers a number of new and enhanced subscriber features, including user-selectable interfaces, HD PVR, multistream recording, and integrated Web and broadcast channels; as well as new backoffice enhancements, including multi-region and multiple channel line-up support, expanded API's for OSS/BSS integration, high-availability configurations, advanced provisioning options, and bandwidth-management features. "After extensive research, we determined that the unique combination of Minerva's IPTV deployment experience and iTVManager 3.0's rich feature set gave us the best business case for our major IPTV initiatives," Tolga Erkmen, VP of product planning, at Connexion Technologies, said in a prepared statement. "Minerva was the first to offer HD and PVR support, and they have added bandwidth-management capabilities, which are crucial to help us manage the increasing complexities of our growing network."
In other Minerva news:
- The company, which claims to be experiencing "significant interest" in its solutions from European operators, is attempting to expand its presence in the European market by opening a new development center in Bulgaria, and a new sales and support office in Italy. According to the company, the new Minerva European Development Center, which is located in Sofia, will focus on development and testing; while the new Minerva Sales & Support Office, which is located in Milan, will support customers located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In a prepared statement, Minerva COO, Jean-Georges Fritsch, explained why the company decided to open an office in Bulgaria: "Hiring talented professionals is a major challenge for fast-growing companies like Minerva," the statement read. "Bulgaria has a large pool of highly qualified engineers that are knowledgeable about video and multimedia technology. The European Development Center will enable us to speed up our product development and better address local market requirements. We expect to scale our engineering team by over 30% by year-end."
The company has appointed Paul Tocatlian as VP of services and support, putting him in charge of all its consulting, training and support services. Tocatlian joins Minerva from Navio Systems, where he was VP of digital media and mobile commerce solutions. According to the company, he has over 20 years of experience in services management and software engineering with BEA Systems, Novell and AT&T Bell Labs. He holds a master's degree in computer science form the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in computer science from the American University in Paris.
Originally Published: October 12, 2007 in [itvt] Issue 7.39 Part 2B
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