[Satellite News 10-26-09] Pace CEO Neil Gaydon is optimistic that other operators will soon follow Canal Digital’s lead and deploy Pace’s MultiDweller technology solution. Canal Digital, the Nordic pay-TV operator, was announced as the first commercial customer for MultiDweller, some four years after Pace launched the concept. The deal was announced in July. A second customer is already lined up. “We have won another customer, a leading hospitality provider which we hope to announce later in the year,” says Gaydon.
    The Pace MultiDweller platform is a last-mile technology solution for the distribution of digital TV and broadband. The platform reduces the need for modifications or cabling upgrades. Pace says this makes it a cost-effective way of creating high-speed, bi-directional networks out of any existing wired TV distribution infrastructure.
    Gaydon believes working with Telenor, the owners of the Canal Digital platform, is an impressive validation for the MultiDweller solution. “The beauty of working with a tier one telco such as Telenor is the quality of testing that the product goes through,” he says.
    It is a new technology and could prove particularly attractive to satellite pay-TV operators, particularly those who want to gain more subscribers in urban centers, for example. In terms of why it might prove attractive to satellite pay-TV operators, Gaydon says, “The Pace MultiDweller allows customers such as Canal Digital to use either a standard QAM cable set-top box client, or a small adapter which allows a satellite operator’s standard QPSK set-top box to be used. Both options come with integrated Ethernet ports for broadband provision, which can allow additional IP services to be delivered.
    He continued, “MultiDweller is a great solution for converting from QAM to IP in a very cost-effective way, with different technology variants available to suit different systems and operators.”
    There could be many markets for this new MultiDweller solution. “We know we have a cracking product that’s suitable for a large market that addresses hard to reach places such as multi-dwelling building blocks through to old wired hotels and hospitals. We announced a partner alliance initiative at ANGA and are looking for distributors in Europe and Asia that understand this type of technology, how to install it and look after it so we can increase our routes to market,” says Gaydon.
    The product is an all important symbol of Pace’s diversification as moves beyond just providing set-top boxes. “MultiDweller is a very important product for us as the company diversifies its product portfolio. We have gone from a handful of pay-TV customers to over a 100 around the world. MultiDweller is a new business with the potential to be an important future growth driver. Due to the nature of the product, it is a longer sales process and as it provides services for 30-40-50 dwellings, it needs to be bulletproof and has undergone extensive testing.”
    Pace is producing more hybrid IP and broadcast solutions. In terms of what the term ‘hybrid’ means to a company like Pace, Gaydon says, “We are leading in hybrid deployments and this technology will be a big growth driver for Pace. Hybrid is all about being able to watch what you want, when you want, coupled with Internet and broadband services, on-demand and of course HD picture quality. This all adds up to the biggest change we have seen since the TV itself was launched. Many operators have not yet built out their IP networks to support hybrid functionality, although all of our HD boxes have Ethernet capabilities incorporated and are hardware ready.”
     More hybrid deals are seemingly on the way. In terms of what trends Gaydon sees among customers, he says, “Last year Canal+ launched +Le Cube, an innovative hybrid HD PVR. We have another customer in Europe that we have not announced deploying a similar high-end hybrid IP product and one customer is talking to us about pulling out SD boxes, and going solely to HD and broadband services. We have a mixture of new markets, new customers, existing customers, new products and new technologies.”
    While the company appears to be getting ever strong, manufacturing a new set-top box every two seconds, it has seen perhaps one surprising consequence of the global economic climate. Gaydon explains, “When designing bespoke products, Pace’s engineers will always try to plan around a number of potential components or chipsets that carry out a similar function. This helps avoid any disruption should a single supplier fail to meet demand on a component which is particularly important in the current economic state as some suppliers may be forced to de-stock to avoid cash-flow issues. There’s been a couple of wobbles where a single supplier of a component to our manufacturing team has jeopardized final delivery but so far we have not had any interruption and work very hard to avoid such issues.”