Netgem Provides Set-Top, Software for Telstra's New T-Box Hybrid DTT/IP Service

French IPTV set-top box manufacturer, Netgem, announced last week that it has been tapped by Australian telco, Telstra, to supply the set-top box and software for the latter's new T-Box service. The service is a hybrid DTT/IP offering which combines reception of Australia's free-to-air SD and HD digital terrestrial channels with IP-delivered live and on-demand programming from Telstra's BigPond TV and BigPond Movies services. The Netgem box that it runs on features dual tuners, a 200GB hard drive, the ability to view and record free-to-air TV programs up to seven days in advance, and the ability to pause and rewind live TV. "The Telstra T-Box will enhance the free-to-air digital TV experience by allowing customers to pause and rewind live television, access a seven-day program guide to record upcoming programs and rent and download movies from BigPond Movies," Holly Kramer, Telstra's group managing director of product management, said in a prepared statement. "T-Box also gives users unmetered access to the seven BigPond TV Internet channels including live news, sport and online music all streamed directly to the television set." Added Netgem managing director, Christophe Aulnette: "As a pure play IPTV technology provider, our goal is to help telecom operators to develop solutions for connected homes which combine the best of TV and Internet. We're delighted to partner with a leading and innovative telecom operator such as Telstra in this exciting T-Box project."

Telstra is initially conducting a "customer experience" trial of T-Box with a few hundred customers in Melbourne--where the company recently completed an upgrade of its hybrid fiber coax broadband network--prior to launching the service nationally.