Virtually everybody in IPTV, from the operator to the customer and the systems integrators and software providers all have it in their agenda to commoditize the IPTV set top, to drive down the costs for each additional customer.
And as this becomes a perennial problem for set top makers, they have to diversify, broaden their geographic reach and step outside of their comfort zones and strike out for new shores, and some of them have even tried to either add a software layer or at least universal APIs for things like browsers. We saw the same in cable, with Pace recently making dents in the cozy arrangements that Motorola and Scientific Atlanta have in the US, and so we expect that everyone trying to get a grip in the IPTV market has to make the move to a broadened international footprint, or risk being marginalized.
This week the move falls to Swiss set top maker Advanced Digital Broadcast, which landed its first US deal with the North Dakota Telephone Company’s (NDTC), where it will initially deliver an MPEG2 and H.264 compatible set top for both HD and SD resolutions and later follow it up with a DVR version.
That deal has been put together by new ADB distributor Border States Electric and at the same time ADB has cut a deal with Telefonica for version of the same 3800W set top for distribution in Chile at the end of Telefonica’s Imagenio middleware, the first product of its kind to be certified by Telefonica in the territory, where it previously only operated a DTH satellite system.
ADB has also been selected by TV maker Grundig to supply set-top box technology to the digital terrestrial market throughout Europe, so those using DVB-T technology.
ADB will supply Grundig’ with high definition set tops, DVRs and interactive modules for distribution right across Europe.
The NDTC deal is ADB’s first commercial IPTV deployment in North America. ‘We have been waiting for availability of a fully-functional and certified MPEG-4 AVC set-top box for some time’, commented Richard Ellison from NDTC. ‘We expected a standard definition unit at this point, so we consider the high definition/AVC capabilities of the ADB-3800W to be a huge bonus. The solution will ensure that our set-top boxes are future-proof and allow us to launch our service and upgrade to HD services without changing hardware. We have worked very closely with ADB to ensure that this deployment has run as smoothly as possible and are extremely pleased that they have met our delivery timescales’.
ADB says its own operating software allows fast channel decoding and swift rendering of on-screen graphics and applications and it has been integrated with Telefonica’s Imagenio as well as Minerva’s middleware.