[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-03-10] Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) is targeting four markets in Scandinavia through a contract signed Dec. 1 with pay-TV operator Canal Digital to use the ADB-5720SX hybrid DVR, ADB announced.
     Canal Digital, owned by Telenor, provides pay-TV services via cable and satellite to households throughout the Nordic region. Using the ADB-5720SX platform, Canal Digital aims to create an enhanced TV experience for its subscribers, allowing users to access a range of HD channels and interactive applications via ADB’s Carbo interface.
    ADB CEO François Pogodalla told Satellite TODAY Insider that the deal represents a unique approach for the company and would strengthen its presence in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. “We are particularly pleased to see that our Carbo user experience will be deployed in the Scandinavian countries, which are known for being among the world’s most demanding in terms of new consumer technologies,” he said.
    Pogodalla said the company wants to use this deal as a reference point to gain more deals from satellite players. “The satellite market represents roughly 30 percent of our pay-TV platform revenues, so we are, of course, continuously working on opportunities. We hope to see the solution that we are developing for Canal Digital become a reference design for operators in other regions.”
    ADB looks to bring more converged solutions to pay-TV operators around the world in 2011, building on recent acquisitions. “You will hear more on our convergence solutions, with further developments of our virtual gateway solution, which is to become our service middleware platform for multiple-play operators,” said Pogodalla. “It seamlessly distributes multimedia service capabilities throughout the home. Our recent acquisition of Pirelli Broadband Solutions will enable us to bring together a complete portfolio for pay-services, local and wide area convergence, providing all the necessary infrastructure devices and software solutions for a connected home entertainment service.”
    Pogodalla also said the company sees a strategic move towards hybrid platforms in the near future. “Advanced platforms are our sweet spot, with more than half of our revenues coming from DVR and three-quarters of our revenues coming from HD,” he said. “We see a growing trend towards hybrid platforms, combining broadcast reception and IP. This trend goes beyond IPTV to encompass a true TV triple-play of traditional broadcast service with support of wide-area applications over IP and support of local area applications, such as home networking, interaction with mobile phones and gaming consoles.”

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