SmartLabs completes Rostelecom IPTV STB integration

SmartLabs: STBs for a Unified IPTV Service from Rostelecom are Ready to Go

MOSCOW — SmartLabs, a leader in the development of platforms for digital interactive television, advanced client applications, user interfaces and next-gen TV set-top boxes, has today announced a successful completion of integration of SmartLabs’ SmartTUBE SDP Service Delivery Platform with STBs of multiple vendors selected by Rostelecom for its unified interactive TV service offered across Russia.

Under the contract with Rostelecom, SmartLabs is preparing for launching of a unified IPTV service for all Rostelecom subscribers planned in April. One of the challenges has been to integrate all STBs chosen by Rostelecom to provide the uniform service. Besides SmartLabs SML-282 Base, the list of STBs includes STBs from Motorola Mobility (USA), Promsvyaz STBs produced in the city of Ufa (Russia) and MAG-250 micro STBs manufactured by Telecommunication Technologies LLC (Ukraine).

Now the “low-level” integration with all the STBs is complete, all STBs can host SmartLabs unified software SmartTUBE UI. This offers unprecedented opportunities to Rostelecom to maintain and develop its IPTV services across Russia.

“We have always paid special attention to supporting as many IPTV set-top boxes by our SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform as possible, to offer a broader choice to operators,” said Mikhail Grachev, SmartLabs CEO. “The work we have done for Rostelecom is another confirmation of this. The integration model we use allows the operator to very quickly expand its service and substantially simplify maintenance of a large subscriber base in the huge Russian territory.”

“We are satisfied with the way SmartLabs is implementing such a large and complex project for us. Now the integration of our list of chosen set-top boxes has been duly completed, we are able to provide all Russia’s regions with the necessary number of STBs to launch a uniform IPTV service in time,” says Andrey Kholodny, the Director of Media Products at Rostelecom.