Telstra to Deliver Live Television Over the Internet with Widevine

Widevine’s Video Optimization Enables Linear Television Channels to be Delivered to a Wide Variety of Internet-Connected Retail Devices

SEATTLE, WA and SYDNEY, Australia — In a world first, Widevine, a provider of digital entertainment solutions, today announced that Telstra (ASX:TLS), Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company, will soon start delivering linear broadcast television channels over the Internet using Widevine’s live adaptive streaming, virtual DVD experience and digital rights management (DRM) platform.

Telstra’s BigPond TV service already offers seven channels of television content and Widevine’s live adaptive streaming technology will ensure that Australian consumers will soon have a higher quality viewing experience. The service will be available on a range of devices including TVs and Blu-ray players from LG Electronics and Samsung from later this year and from Telstra’s T-Box set top box in 2011.

Widevine’s video optimization technology works by monitoring the available bandwidth at the device and adaptively choosing the appropriate bitrate of video to play back, eliminating constant buffering interruptions that take place as bandwidth fluctuates in the home. As a result, consumers can experience high-quality, live programming regardless of their bandwidth connection. Widevine’s DRM ensures that BigPond content remains secure, no matter what device it is delivered to.

“If 2010 was the year when IPTV became a mainstream reality in Australia, then the year ahead will be one where the quality they have come to expect from the service will transform from an internet standard to a true broadcast standard,” Telstra’s Head of IPTV Ben Kinealy said. “It will ensure that customers watching BigPond TV will enjoy the same high-quality experience as customers have come to expect from traditional broadcast TV and Telstra is delighted to be the first in the world to offer this.”

“Telstra’s initiative represents a significant leap forward in the industry, and we are pleased to provide the enabling technology that turned this concept into reality,” said Brian Baker, CEO, Widevine. “Our technology has been selected over and over again by numerous customers around the world – a testament to our expertise in video optimization and DRM, and the value it provides as the over-the-top and TV Everywhere initiative continues to evolve.”