GET selects Pace to deliver pioneering converged services platform

Monday, September 5th, 2011
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Pace Media Gateway and client device platform will support new converged home service for GET subscribers

Pace plc (LSE: PIC) today announced that it has been selected by Norwegian cable company, GET AS, to develop the platform for its pioneering new converged home service. The hardware platform, incorporating Pace’s new next generation Media Gateway and companion HD client device, will deliver media content and data to a variety of devices, giving subscribers the freedom to utilise GET’s services when and where they want around the home.

Using the Pace converged home platform, GET will offer over 440,000 subscribers a wider range of linear, OTT and on-demand content, applications and data services than ever before. The Pace Media Gateway will provide a central hub in consumers’ homes for the delivery and remote management of these services. The Media Gateway can repurpose content for different screens, to deliver a tailored, consistently enjoyable experience anywhere in the home, across TVs, Tablets, laptops and handheld consumer electronic devices.

The new Pace companion HD client device can be used in different capacities to give GET ultimate flexibility in how it rolls out its new services to consumers. It is able to act as a standalone cable or IP set-top box, or as a WiFi-enabled client device in an advanced home networking solution. As part of the home networking solution, subscribers can use the client device anywhere in the home to view content hosted centrally on the Media Gateway.

The client device provides powerful media processing and digital connectivity capabilities in an extremely compact, stylish and low-power design, delivering brand appeal and energy efficiency.

Shane McCarthy, Pace General Manager, said: “Pace’s mission is to help its customers combat the complexity of delivering the connected home, enabling them to deliver a great experience for their subscribers. We are very excited that GET has selected our new Media Gateway and client products for its Connected Home service, giving us the opportunity to bring the deep expertise we’ve built developing similar advanced payTV platforms for US operators to the European market for the first time.”

Gunnar Evensen, CEO of GET added: “Our customers have incredibly high performance and design expectations. We wanted a platform that would help us meet these expectations by giving us the tools to maintain a great day-to-day experience for subscribers while also taking new leaps ahead in terms of our services. Using the Pace platform, we can strike this balance. Pace helps us stay in control and manage the complexity we face in delivering all the content our customers want, on any device, anywhere in the home.”

The Pace converged home Media Gateway’s advanced video processing capabilities and DOCSIS 3.0 modem support ultra-fast downloading and streaming of media content, expanding the range of content that GET can offer subscribers while maintaining a high quality viewing experience. The platform offers dual-band WiFi and Ethernet connectivity and distributes data using wireless networking to allow maximum flexibility for how content is delivered into and around the home.