Espial IPTV Middleware Powers Interactive TV Services For Com Hem

Sweden’s Largest Cable Operator Deploys Hybrid IP TV Services With Evo TV Service Platform

OTTAWA — Espial® (TSX:ESP), a leader in the delivery of TV software, today announced that Com Hem AB, Sweden’s largest cable operator, has chosen Espial IPTV middleware for its next generation digital TV and VOD services, named Com Hem On Demand. The Evo TV Service Platform powers the Swedish operator’s recently launched on-demand TV services. These advanced, interactive services include movies on demand (Videobutik), several catch-up TV programmes (Play) and a music on-demand service (Musik). Com Hem will be actively rolling out and marketing these services and, by December 2009, 500,000 Swedish households are expected to be able to use the services.

Com Hem AB provides cable television, digital television, HD television, broadband, and IP telephony services to approximately two million households in Sweden.

“Espial IPTV middleware provides us with a powerful, high performance platform to deliver a superior user experience and the possibility to rapidly add new innovative services. With it, we’ve developed and launched a range of on-demand and interactive TV services including VOD, Start-Over TV, Catch-Up TV, Landlord-Tenant management portals and other interactive services, based on a hybrid DVB & IP approach” stated Martin Kull, Chief Technology Officer of Com Hem.

“We are privileged to be part of Com Hem’s new on-demand services
roll-out. This is one of the leading deployments of a hybrid-IP TV service by a major cable operator in Europe. Com Hem’s service offers consumers an excellent range of compelling on-demand services” stated Jaison Dolvane, CEO, Espial. “This deployment clearly highlights the openness, performance and scalability of Espial’s IPTV middleware and demonstrates our ability to meet the stringent requirements of leading TV service providers.”

Espial’s digital TV middleware is purpose-built to serve millions of
subscribers with a minimal capex investment, to provide a highly responsive user experience and to offer a powerful service creation environment. With sub-second response times for EPG, VOD, Timeshift TV, DVR and other interactive applications, the Evo TV Service Platform delivers an instant user response – a level of performance expected by today’s internet generation. It is designed to fit into current and future IPTV and cable back-office architectures. This lets Cable operators, Telcos and Internet Service Providers quickly build and deliver new services to their subscribers. They can rapidly roll out services such as personalized UI advertising, Time-Shift TV services and MDU (or Campus) services.

Please drop by our IBC booth (5.A18) to see a demonstration of the Com Hem On Demand service – September 11-15, RAI Amsterdam.