A few years ago, the whole TV industry would have said that ANGA COM was primarily a cable show. Our trip to Cologne this year however showed more clearly than ever before that it’s now an IP video show – shadowing the cable industry’s accelerating move towards becoming next generation broadband providers for whom video is just one service, although a critically important one.
Over the past few months, there were interesting next generation broadband technology launches from the major players and extended Pan-European initiatives such as Sky GO, or Deutsche Telekom partnering with Netflix in Germany, demonstrating that the TV industry market is moving towards launching additional IP based services such as Over-The-Top (OTT) TV.
Connectivity was at the forefront of the discussions at this year’s ANGA. For example, Alcatel-Lucent and Telecom Italia announcing that they are working on 100GB per second optical networking technology to allow the delivery of “ultra broadband” internet and TV services. The upcoming deployment of 5G without borders also means that European TV operators will be able to launch exciting new services throughout Europe.
This is all great news for ACCESS, as connectivity is central to our DNA since pioneering the mobile web browser for major international operators. We all now use multiple devices to watch content both in and out of home at the same time as sharing personal data on social media; when combined with usage patterns, this provides interesting data driven opportunities that we’re excited to be part of. We’re also advocate for standards such as HbbTV and ANGA made it clear that this pan-European initiative is growing in importance.
ACCESS has always combined connectivity and standards to ensure that we provide solutions that remain relevant in an increasingly fast-paced industry. Our solutions have been shipped in over 1.5 billion connected devices since the early days of NetFront™ Browser, which has been extended to offer a tailored solution for each platform, including next-generation smartphones and tablets. ANGA also saw interest in NetFront™ Living Connect, our DLNA Technology Component™ media-sharing stack that facilitates the secure sharing of multimedia content between devices. Operators were excited to see how the latest addition to our product portfolio, ACCESS Twine™, our multiscreen management solution enables them to elegantly develop multiscreen services that offer a tailored experience on every screen, regardless of the device’s specifications or the CA/DRM system in place.
Seeing how connectivity, all IP and next generation broadband is impacting the TV industry, ANGA COM confirms that multiscreen and TV everywhere are here to stay and expand their influence. We’re already seeing the automotive industry add multimedia solutions to its latest models – many of them powered by ACCESS – and we’re confident that the operators that embrace the trend towards an ‘Internet of Video Things’ will be the ones that succeed.
