i3 micro technology and Accedo Broadband cooperate to demonstrate advanced broadband based IP-TV services
i3 micro technology and Accedo Broadband have today announced a strategic partnership agreement to provide advanced triple play services on the i3 Mood™ 300 IP Set-top Box (STB). i3 has licensed the Mood software development kit (SDK) to Accedo Broadband, making it possible for Accedo to offer service providers an enhanced portfolio of entertainment and communication applications on Mood STB, thereby extending the range of managed triple play services beyond that of basic IP-TV functionality.
The Mood 300 IP Set-top Boxes offer enhanced capabilities for IP-TV services. Advanced MPEG-4 decoding and PVR (Personal Video Recorder) functionality delivers optimal bandwidth savings and a flexible viewing experience. The Mood 300 series is designed to provide the end-users with advanced functionality and high quality viewing while reducing cost of implementation and maintenance. New service revenues and personalized viewing capabilities are made possible with the integrated personal video recorder – a key ingredient in future media consumption. An integrated hard disk allows for convenient and silent personal video recording that is both advanced and secure.
Accedo Broadband offers a non-branded turnkey solution for interactive and entertainment based IP-TV applications such as games, casino, karaoke, e-mail, chat and quizzes. The solution offers service provider a licensed applications portfolio and technical platform for provisioning, content administration, reporting and reconciliation.
The Accedo Broadband implementation is ready for commercial use, and also serves as a demonstration platform to showcase how the use of advanced IP set-top box technology can provide end-users with functionality previously limited to the home PC.
"Taking full advantage of the technical and commercial opportunities of IP broadband technology requires a broader approach to triple play. It entails more than just basic telephony, TV and data services over a high-speed Internet connection," says Leif Björklund, VP Business Development at i3 micro technology. “Managed services that utilize the potentials of service convergence are key. i3's new partnership with Accedo is yet an example of our efforts to provide advanced and affordable managed service capabilities to service providers with our Mood IP Set-top boxes.”
“We help IP-TV service providers to secure new revenue streams and to differentiate their IP-TV offering. Our turnkey concept is appreciated by many service providers because it enables them to focus on their core business and instead lets Accedo take care of aggregation, provisioning and reconciliation of the interactive applications. We are excited about offering our application portfolio to the rapidly growing number of Mood 300 users,” says Fredrik Andersson, VP Business Development at Accedo Broadband.
The companies have signed a non-exclusive agreement to cooperate on development, marketing and sales of the common solution. The Accedo Broadband implementation on the Mood 300 will be available to operators in Q2, 2005.