Local production of STBs for ER-Telecom begins

The first batch of TV set-top boxes has rolled off the production line in Russia

In Perm, the Morion plant has started serial production of set-top boxes providing access to digital TV. By the end of the year, based on Dom.ru order, over 100 thousand STB Dom.ru TV Mini will be assembled at the Morion plant. 3-year production turnover will total about RUB 4 billion.

Assembly, software installation and testing are performed at a new specialized production line at the Morion plant. The line deploys modern equipment that meets the principles of lean technologies and utmost ergonomics. The assembly site has 25 new workplaces.

Previously, Dom.ru TV Mini were assembled by Korean KAON company, today the company supplies the parts and controls the quality of assembly. The localization of production in Russia is a part of Dom.ru strategy: “The launch in the market of the equipment produced locally will provide access to advanced technologies and will allow using them for further economic development”, notes Andrey Semerikov, General Director of the company.

Prior to the launch of production in Russia, ER-Telecom (Dom.ru brand), Morion and Kaonmedia Ltd. signed a trilateral cooperation agreement at the International Economic Forum in Saint-Petersburg.

In 2016, it is planned to assemble up to 1 million KAON set-top boxes at Morion, allowing the company to fully transfer to our country the production of hybrid set-top boxed for the operators in Russia and the CIS countries.

Dom.ru TV Mini allows watching digital and HD channels on any TV, including outdated models. The compact device is connected to the TV via HDMI connector (or a special adapter), it is easy to setup and managed by a special control panel. Also, Dom.ru Mini opens the access to certain additional functions of digital TV, including TV guide (e-program), programs recording to an external USB-drive and their pausing, choice of channel language, parental control (password to the channels), creating personal channel lists. By connecting Dom.ru TV Mini, a user can watch up to 187 digital channels with 62 of them – in HD format.

Viasat expands in Ukraine

The Ukrainian OTT service Divan.TV will offer its viewers all Viasat channels available in the country.

Mediasat reports this follows an agreement between the service and Viasat Ukraine and that the channels will be available on all devices as part of a new package named Viasat Premium.

The channels include the HD services TV1000 Premium HD and TV1000 Megahit HD.

Divan.TV is aimed at a Ukrainian and Russian speaking audience of 300 million in 200 countries worldwide.

As previously reported in Broadband TV News, it broke even in Q4 last year.

NXT Digital uses Nagra’s anyCAST and OpenTV solutions

NXT Digital, the Hinduja Group’s headend-in-the-sky (HITS) venture, is using Nagra’s anyCAST and OpenTV solutions.

Kudelski Group’s Nagra provides multiscreen as well as content protection solutions. NXT Digital was recently launched by Hinduja Group’s subsidiary Grant Investrade. The HITS platform is expected to help cable TV operators migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting.

NAGRA’s solutions: anyCAST, OpenTV are user interface platforms that enable NXT Digital manage backend operations to local and multi-system cable operators in India, reports Indian Television. According to NAGRA, its solutions are ready to deploy and support both entry-level and advanced DTV services. The solutions will also enable MSOs to provide services in different languages.

“This new platform makes it easy for local and regional cable operators to deploy new services without having to worry about the operational complexities that can come with installing their own system. And by leveraging Nagra’s deployed, market-leading solutions, they are ensuring a high quality user experience that is not only highly secure but offers pay-as-you-grow models adapted to their strategy,” said Nagra’s SVP sales for Asia-Pacific Jean-Luc Jezouin, reports Television Post.

Videocon d2h aims to strengthen DTH business

Videocon d2h- the direct-to-home TV service provider- is planning to invest as much as USD1 billion over the next five years to strengthen its position in the Indian TV market.

According to Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot, the company’s USD325 million offering received positive response in the US, leading to greater cash flow into India business, according to Television Post.

The DTH player says that it is expecting to end the current financial year with an EBITDA of INR8.2 to 8.6 billion. In FY2015, Videocon d2h posted an operating profit of INR6.10 billion.

Videocon currently has a net subscriber base of 10.64 million while Average Revenue per User stands at INR205.

The company recently said that the new wave of digitisation will help it make profits over the next three months.

“We hope to be PAT positive early next year or late this year (within the next three quarters),” Videocon D2H executive director Saurabh Dhoot told Deccan Herald. With 60-70 million analog homes planned to be digitised in the next 2-4 years as part of the the Phase 3 and Phase 4 digitisation, we hope to double our subscriber base in the next three to four years, Dhoot added, according to Deccan Herald.

Russian DVB-T2 coup for DataMiner

The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS) has chosen DataMiner to manage its DVB-T2 network.

The network, reaching over 120 million people, consists of more than 5,000 digital transmitter sites and 70 regional headends, and DataMiner is integrated with over 4,000 devices from almost 500 different vendors.

Commenting on the deployment, Victor Pinchuk, first deputy general director at RTRS, said “The multi-vendor DataMiner network management and operational support system has been instrumental to our procurement strategy, since we needed an end-to-end network management solution to manage and operate the network irrespective of vendor or device type in the network. DataMiner is the only solution on the market that does the job today and guarantees our freedom to deploy just about any technology in our network in the future”.

Ben Vandenberghe, CEO at Skyline Communications, added: “The RTRS network really benefits from the DataMiner system architecture, as it can be scaled to manage and operate both small networks and the world’s largest network infrastructures. The multi-vendor nature of our system allows RTRS to deploy the best suited equipment today and in the future”.

AMT Group will be acting as a system integrator of the project. Its CEO Alexander Goltsov said that it would be using the latest product version, DataMiner 9.0, which will be installed for the first time in Russia.

As previously reported in Broadband TV News, Russia completed the transition to DVB-T2 in January this year.

CTH powers OTT platform with Magine

Cable Thai Holdings (CTH) has deployed a cloud-based system from Magine TV to power its over-the-top platform for delivering video content to mobile devices.     

CTH will provide live streaming and catch-up functionality across its range of sports and entertainment programming.

“This is a major step for Magine, and marks our first move into the Asian market. Live sports events such as Premier League football matches are integral to CTH’s offering, and create a huge demand on OTT platforms in terms of the number of users streaming concurrently,” said Ambuj Goyal, CEO, Magine TV.

“We are delighted to … move CTH into an area of offering which is becoming more and more relevant in Thailand. The significance of this alliance cannot be overstated because the demands of being a pay TV broadcaster requires a constant need to innovate our business, our offering, and who we are, to ensure that our subscribers are connected to the best there is. This relationship with Magine allows us to address these objectives,” said Arnath Sukhavanj, CEO of CTH.

Alma TV partners Gorsvyaz to upgrade network

Kazakhstani cable television operator, AlmaTV has selected a Russian outsourcing company, Gorsvyaz to upgrade its infrastructure at Almaty city.

Gorsvyaz facilitates the development and modernisation of the Alma TV network. This allows Alma TV to effectively utilise its existing infrastructure to quickly connect new subscribers and to implement projects for promoting new services, reported Cnews.ru.

“AlmaTV always sets itself high standards of rigor. In this connection, the decision to increase the level of service quality of the network was a logical step. To this end, we invited competent professionals who have proven their professionalism, working in a highly competitive market of Moscow,” said Alexander Parkhomenko, Deputy General Director of AlmaTV.

AlmaTV was established in 1995. It is available across 19 cities in Kazakhstan and provides over 100 channels. It also offers IPTV and OTT services.