July 22, 2004 Southampton, UK -- TANDBERG Television today announced it has been chosen by Jordan Telecom, an affiliate of France Telecom, to provide a carrier-class iTTV broadband delivery platform to enable the operator to offer broadcast TV and Video on Demand (VoD) over its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Integrated Multimedia Service Platform (IMSP).
The IMSP, which is in trials in homes in Amman, is a 'triple play' integration of video, voice, and data services over an IP network. TANDBERG Television has worked closely with Jordan Telecom to design and implement the TV delivery and VoD system, providing a range of solutions as well as sharing its broadcast knowledge to enable the operator to deploy a technology solution that meets its business model needs today and in the future.
"As the telecoms landscape in Jordan becomes de-regulated, we are looking to new, exciting services that will enable us to maintain our competitive edge," explains Luc Savage, chief officer for strategy at Jordan Telecom. "To support our plans, we needed a scalable system, capable of supporting today's trial, but also able to expand as we do. TANDBERG Television's ability to provide a high-quality end-to-end solution, combined with its strong track-record in real-world IPTV deployments and its reputation for good customer support made the company the ideal choice."
The new platform allows users to watch TV programs and films at extremely high video quality via their TV set linked to a set-top-box. TANDBERG Television's iTTV Portal middleware software is providing the user EPG (electronic programming guide) interface for the service, giving consumers an easy to navigate guide to the choices available. In addition to the complete IP head-end, featuring TANDBERG's TT7116 IP Streamer and MPEG-2 encoding engine, TANDBERG Television is also providing the end-to-end VoD system, including a content ingest solution for high-quality video at very low bit rates and a highly scalable VoD video server from Entone Technologies.
"Around the world, telcos are exploring the possibilities of adding video services to their consumer offering and it is exciting to be working with innovative companies such as Jordan Telecom as they make their first moves into the television world," asserts Noel Matthews, director of broadband at TANDBERG Television. "As a leading provider of digital broadcasting technologies, we have been able to harness our decades of TV delivery expertise to create IPTV systems that enable telcos to introduce compelling new consumer services. We are delighted that our solutions are playing a significant role in Jordan Telecom's important trials," he adds.