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Tag: MTNL

  • Percept/H bags Jetking Infotrain’s creative biz

    MUMBAI: Percept/H has won the creative mandate of Jetking Infotrain following a multi-agency pitch.

    Confirming the development to Indiantelevision.com, Percept/H CEO Prabhakar Mundkur said, “Jetking is an old and much respected brand in IT education. They wanted somebody who understood their business and we will be restaging the brand for them.”

    For the record, Percept/H is the flagship advertising agency of Percept Limited, that services Indian and multinational brands in India. It is a 50:50 joint venture between Percept (entertainment, media and communications group) and Hakuhodo Inc. (Japanese advertising agency). The agency‘s Key clientele includes- Hero Honda, DLF, Bharti, Beetel, MTNL and Canon.

    Established in 1990 Jetking Infotrain is a Computer Hardware and Networking Institute, which trains technical and non-technical students.

  • ‘Convert pirate users into paying consumers & gaming industry will be worth Rs 3 billion’ : Vishal Gondal – Indiagames founder

    ‘Convert pirate users into paying consumers & gaming industry will be worth Rs 3 billion’ : Vishal Gondal – Indiagames founder

     Gaming firm Indiagames is on the move. It recently came back into the online gaming space with its Games on Demand concept. UTV also took a majority stake in the company. Indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Pinto caught up with Indiagames founder Vishal Gondal to find out how the company has evolved and the plans ahead.

    Excerpts:

    How has your business model evolved over the years?
    We started off as an online games company. We did free flash games where money came from advertising. However, we found that it was not scalable and limited. So we took a call to move out of online gaming and into the services business.

    Then we saw the opportunities in mobile gaming and so we became a developer and then a publisher of mobile games. Last year we returned to online gaming with a new strategy games on demand. We have a subscription based gaming service. Users can play unlimited games for a flat fee.

    Right now we are at a time when gaming is starting to take off in India. How do you see the gaming space faring vis-a-vis traditional entertainment like TV, films?
    Globally gaming is bigger than film. In the US, it is bigger than Hollywood. The same thing will happen in India eventually. In every mature market where it has spread it has done that – like Korea, China. India has a lot of young people who do not watch 'Saas Bahu soaps.

    They are not as much into current television, which is dominated by the housewives. I am not saying that this segment is bad. However going forward more people will get into interactive entertainment. Gaming is part of this, along with activities like Second Life. More and more people will take to the virtual world.

    What would you say is the main challenge gaming faces
    in India?
    The problem in India is not that people don't game. The problem is that people buy pirated games. Nobody was paying for legal games. Indiagames is trying to build an eco system where price points are such that the consumer does not want to pirate anymore.

    If we are able to convert the pirate users into paying consumers, that alone will make the gaming industry worth Rs 3 billion.
    'We are about to launch a Godzilla game; we are about to release a cricket Twenty20 game'

    What kind of price points are you looking at?
    To give you an example; for the games on demand service we offer unlimited games for Rs 200. Today when you pay Rs 150 for cable TV, do you want to buy pirated tapes of TV content? Our logic is the same. When consumers can get all games for Rs 200 why would you buy pirated games for Rs 100?

    Who are your partners for games on demand?
    We have partnered with pretty much all the major gaming publishers in the world for content. So we have distribution deals with firms like Popcap, Atari, Activision, Codemaster Playfirst. We also have a tie up with MTNL, Sify, among other platforms. We also work with Qualcomm, Microsoft to make sure that our games are cutting edge.

    UTV recently bought a majority stake in Indiagames.
    What synergies do you see here?
    UTV is an integrated entertainment firm. If you see what Ronnie is doing, he is building a business that encompasses the entire gamut of entertainment from TV, to films, to online entertainment. So the UTV deal allows us to be a part of the bigger picture. Bindass is UTV's effort tap into the youth. The youth want gaming and so we will work with Bindass to see how we can integrate gaming with their offerings.

    UTV also has a stake in Ignition, which is a console game publisher. Between Ignition and us we have capabilities across all platforms. We will be looking at how we can exploit IP into the console space and vice versa. UTV will also create IP in the form of movies and TV shows. So we can adapt some of these into games, which we then market.

    Are we going to see more tie ups like this as traditional entertainment firms seek to broaden their horizons?
    The Indian film and media industry are getting more professional. They are also converging a lot. Previously, the film industry was a different silo, the broadcasting sector was a different silo the net industry was a different silo.

    However Fox buying MySpace triggered off a chain of events where media firms want to have their share of the pie in every segment to boost customer interaction. So if customers are increasing their time spent on the internet, mobile then for traditional media firms who are in TV or print it is a natural progression for them to look at exploiting the other screens too.

    You will see more corporate deals. Traditional media firms realise that it is difficult to build a new media business from scratch. It is better to buy such businesses from market leaders in their respective fields. Adobe and Cisco also have a stake in Indiagames.

    What targets have been set by Indiagames in terms of market share?
    It is too early to talk about revenue targets. On the market share front on the mobile side we enjoy upwards of 50-60 per cent share. On the online front we are the only firm to offer games on demand service. The other players are trying to sell MMOPGs which is a niche segment. It is early to say if there is competition online as the market is new.

    What have been some of your biggest properties so far
    and what have you learnt from their success?
    We have worked on properties like Bruce Lee, Jurassic Park, Rush Hour 3. In India, we also distribute content from the likes of Electronic Arts, Fifa, Batman, Transformers.

    It is important to work on the right kind of property. You cannot take any movie or any story or any character and convert it into a game. The brand has to lend itself to gaming. In the past games have come out of family drama. However cricket, action, sports games work better than love stories.

    Which are your five big markets globally and how many
    partners do you have?
    We have 150 partners globally, Our key markets are the US, Australia, Japan, Europe and India. We have offices in London, Los Angeles, Beijing, Mumbai. These are the core hubs where we do business from. We recently set up an office in Madrid, Spain to cover Southern Europe.
    What would you say is the main difference between
    developing games for the internet and for the mobile?
    The screen size is the first major difference. Attention spans differ. For the mobile you design a game for someone on the move. His time with a game is limited. He/she also has limited access to 10 different keys. Online people tend to spend more time on a game. The control is wider.
     
    When you work with a firm like NBC how much of a
    collaborative process is it?
    It is very collaborative. We have to work with the production team, share creative ideas with them. We have to get approval for game concepts. We work together to exploit the complete commercial value of the property.
     
    Could you shed light on the relationship between gaming and social networking?
    Gaming was the first social network. If you look at xBox Live you see gamers wanting to connect with other gamers. This is how social networking was born. After that social networking was adapted to other common interests. We have had social networking since the first multi player games came up.
     
    Where does Indiagames get creative ideas for new games from?
    We have a team that brainstorms on creative ideas. We have to see whether properties are relevant in different markets. You do not want to have a situation where a property is only well known in one market. So we have to do research to find out whether people in the US, Australia, Europe, India know about the property. If it is less or more in one country then what is the extent? Our business is about taking calculated bets.
     
    From a client viewpoint what does Indiagames bring to the table vis-a-vis the competition?
    People know that India is good for technical execution. India has been looked at as an outsourcing base. We have changed this perception. We were the first firm to start licensing games from India. Nobody in the world thought that Indian firms could go the publishing route. Our first success was Spiderman which we worked on with Marvel. We proved that we could not only produce quality stuff in India but that we could market the same globally.
     
    Going forward are you looking to sign long term deals with entertainment conglomerates like NBC Universal for games or will it still be on a project to project basis?
    It is better to work on a project to project basis as all projects that they do may not be relevant for us and vice versa. I don't know if this will change in the future but as of now we work on a case by case basis.
     
    What are the major projects Indiagames is now working on?
    We are about to launch a Godzilla game. We are about to release a cricket Twenty20 game.
     
    Do you think that game developers in India have an advantage in terms of being able to learn from the experience of mature markets like Korea?
    There is always an advantage in being able to learn from different markets. At the same time each market has its own nuances and challenges. It is important not to just blindly follow what a country like Korea is doing as there are cultural issues and local intelligence.

    Indian preferences for games tend to lean more towards the West than the East. Indians play games like Counter Strike, Fifa, need For Speed. China and Korea on the other hand have a lot of massive multiplayer online gaming.
    How important is organising on ground events for you?
    Very! We have been doing the Cybergame championships for sometime now. We are working with the CII and the government to see if T-Sports and gaming can be recognised professionally as a sport. It should be given equal status as any other sport. We have the Indian national champions who will be going to Seattle to compete in the Cybergame Championships. We also organised an India versus Pakistan event where Kapil Dev was the chief guest. They played various games like Counter Strike.
     
    Finally where do you see Indiagames five years from now?
    Right now we are leading in the mobile space. Five years from now I see Indiagames leading in all gaming spaces.
  • IOL Broadband, India selects MagnaQuest for IPTV

    IOL Broadband, India selects MagnaQuest for IPTV

    MUMBAI: MagnaQuest has announced that its Convergent Customer Management and Billing (CMB) solution, MQSubscribeT has been selected by IOL Broadband, India for its subscriber billing, inventory and customer care operations. This contract encompasses IOL’s service deployments on their own network and deployment of Content Delivery Network (CDN) for MTNL and BSNL.

    An official annoucement states, integrations with network elements for provisioning, rating and billing of multiple services delivered over IP. MQSubscribeT to be used to bill value added services like video on Demand, VoIP services over its IP network, apart from the billing of regular services.

     
    IOL has launched IPTV services including broadcast TV, video on demand, broadband Internet, as part of its CDN project with MTNL. IOL intends to launch such services in several cities in India. MagnaQuest would work on all IOL deployments in India.

    MQSubscribeT will support IOL’s projected subscriber growth and launch of new value added services. To start with MQSubscribeT would be deployed integrated with SeaChange’s Video on Demand middleware chosen by IOL, adds the release.

     
    MagnaQuest managing director Vijay Debbad said, “I am glad that we have bagged the first project in the emerging domain of IPTV. The specialized knowledge we gained over the experience of implementing solutions for Triple Play services including Video and Data and VoIP domains, has enabled us to get here. We look forward to a very long association with IOL Broadband.”

    MagnaQuest is exhibiting its Convergent Customer Management and Billing solution, MQSubscribeTM and its capability to handle IPTV billing and mediation during IPTV World Forum, London on 5-7 March.

  • MTNL launches value add service ‘Broadband with Wi-Fi’

    MTNL launches value add service ‘Broadband with Wi-Fi’

    MUMBAI: MTNL has introduced a value add to its broadband services with ‘Broadband with Wi-Fi’. These Wi-Fi services are enabled with CPE’s (Customer Premises Equipment) which have a speed of up to 2 mbps.Using these CPE’s, subscribers will now be able to create their ‘private hot spots’ covering a range of 40 meters in their homes and offices. They can also create “Private public hot spots” through MTNL’s
    pre paid broadband service.

    Speaking on the occasion MTNL executive director A.K. Arora said, “Broadband with Wi-Fi is an initiative to create ease and comfort for our consumers while at home or work. Broadband MTNL’s contribution aims to help increase internet penetration and its usage will be significantly driven by these kind of services”.

    Broadband with Wi-Fi will bring convenience to consumers to the level that multiple computers, laptops and PDAs can operate simultaneously. This will help household consumers who have more than one device at their residence.
    This facet will also help educational institutions such as Engineering, Management, Medical and Research Institutes to save cost and provide better work as well as learning environment.

    Convention centers like auditoriums, conference halls, seminar rooms can also be helped through this connection by providing better service and in turn they will be able to enhance their turnover. With broadband Wi-Fi one can access the Internet anywhere and so café’s restaurants and shopping malls can be converted into infotainment zones.

    The Wi-Fi modem works on the latest version 802.11g of Wi-Fi standard and working in unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. It generally provides bandwidth of 54Mbps. The concurrent users can be upto 30. The Wi-Fi modem shall have a range of 40 meter indoor & 60 meter outdoor range. The range varies with
    obstacles between Wi-Fi modem and laptop/PC/PDA. With above facilities of modem, one can create Hot spot in each house or corporate. The two types of modem used will be USB and Ethernet port or with 4 Ethernet ports.

    Currently MTNL provides Wi-Fi services at domestic airport, India Habitat Center, Pragati Maidan, Vigyan Bhavan, UPSC, Election Commission, IIPA, and Delhi Government etc.

    The customers can get this service by dialing 1500 or 22221500.

  • MTNL launches Broadband with Wi-Fi in Delhi

    MTNL launches Broadband with Wi-Fi in Delhi

    NEW DELHI: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd Delhi announced the launch of their IPTV-competent broadband with Wi-Fi, with a maximum speed of 2 mbps, which will help set up thousands of “Private Hot Spots” across the Capital city.

    Meanwhile, the Wi-Max system is already functioning on a trial basis in some government offices, and should be launched within this year, A K Arora, Executive Director, MTNL said at a press briefing here today.

    The broadband Wi-Fi modem works on the latest version of 802.11g of Wi-Fi standard and functions on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band and generally provides bandwidth of 54 mbps. There cane be up to 30 concurrent users in this system.

    The MTNL will sell two types of modems for the new Wi-Fi system: one with one USB and one Ethernet port and the other with four Ethernet ports. Besides, there will be the normal LAN facility as well. MTNL is buying the modems from HT Star company.

    The users can purchase pre-paid cards for the usage, which come in various price ranges.

    “Small hotels and restaurants can set up these connections which function on radio wave and not through any cable, and allow its customers to use the Internet,” Arora explained.

    What is most attractive is the pricing of the modems and the monthly rentals.

    “It will cost the clients very little, just the security deposit and the cost of the modem. There is no setting-up cost, being on radio waves,” he added. There can be multiple users working with their computers or laptops within 40 metres of the modem inside a house or restaurant (in open space, with less physical intrusions, they can work within 60

    “The need for us to go into this is that there are at least 1.3 lakh private hot spots across the world, whereas in India there are just a thousand. Especially with the government declaring 2007 as the year of the broadband, we decided to launch this from February 8, and you can get through the Sanchar Haats anywhere. It will be set up within two days of the purchase made,” Arora claimed.

    He said that the system has already been tried at the domestic airport, Pragati Maidan, India Habitat Centre, Union Public Service Commission office, Indian Institute of Planning and Administration and many offices of the Delhi government. “The most popular has been the one at the airport,” Arora said.

    He said that setting up public hot spots will hugely help businesses, convention centres, engineering, management and medical institutions, and also private homes. “This helps us also develop our new revenue model, because there will be up to 30 users per modem, and download is free up to one GB and then it costs Rs 1 per MB, as usual our broadband.

    The registration charge is Rs 500, security deposit Rs 800 and installing and testing charges are Rs 300. The monthly rental is only Rs 150.

    The payments for usages can be made through credit cards as well purchasable prepaid scratch cards.
    “Suppose you go to a restaurant and are not sure of being over charged, the scratch card is of major help,” explained a senior engineer present at the press conference.

    Our aim was to become the dominant player in the field, Arora stressed as the factor behind the decision to launch early. Besides, he said, there will be 90 lakh broadband users by 2007, of which MTNL will have to give 50 lakh connections.

    Arora said that Wi-Max is already there in use in Delhi. “This room in which we are having the meeting is Wi-Max enabled, and there are some other government offices as well. Trail runs are on, and we can launch when the government gives permission for the spectrum, which should be the end of this year,” Arora hoped.

    Arora also announced the launch of MTNL’s CDMA mobiles, and asserted that with this, the Nigam has become the only service provider to operate both CDMA and GSM services.

    The handset comes for really cheap: the original handset, Huwai C 300, costs Rs 3,500, but MTNL is selling it for just Rs 1,499 paid upfront (VAT extra), with Rs 1,499 free talk time in local network CDMA, GSM and landline) as well, for one year.

    MTNL is also giving Rs 25 worth talk time free to other networks, for a period of a week.

    The pulse would be of 15 seconds and the rate, Arora said, would be Rs 0.10 for a pulse for local calls. The STD charges would be Rs 2.40 per pulse, he said.

  • Mobile services better, Airtel continues to lead: TNS Celltrack report

    Mobile services better, Airtel continues to lead: TNS Celltrack report

    MUMBAI: The mobile telephony sector in India is not just growing but service providers seem to be getting better at meeting customer expectations.

    According to the latest annual TNS CellTrack 2006 study, the already high TRI*M index for the industry – the metric that measures the strength of the ‘subscriber-service provider relationship’ – got even better, and is today at 82, up from 79 in 2005.

    The performance of the Indian mobile industry measured by their ability to anticipate and meet customer expectations has been increasing consistently over time. From an industry average TRI*M Index of 55 in 2000, the Indian mobile industry has surely come a long way.

    Airtel not only retained its number one position among the national players (see Figure 2), but also scored better, with the TRI*M Index up from 82 in 2005 to 90 this year. Hutch has also managed to improve their performance significantly and stays at second place, while Reliance with a TRI*M Index of 83 (80 in 2005) is third. Idea, BSNL and Tata Teleservices, have maintained performance but are significantly below the industry average of 82.

    Among the regional players, the big surprise is MTNL – dislodging Spice to become the best regional player with a TRI*M Index of 100.

    TNS India head of telecom practice Abraham Karimpanal says, “While it could be argued, and rightly so that MTNL is attracting a different profile of subscribers with different set of expectations, this war is all about each operator understanding and /or crafting, and then managing their subscribers’ expectations. Whether by design or otherwise, MNTL has surpassed all others at it.”

    TNS CellTrack 2006 also tracks the evolving brand choice and purchase behaviour for handsets among the Indian mobile users.

    Nokia continues to dominate the GSM market, with a 79 per cent market share. Motorola is the brand that has been able to significantly improve its share by almost doubling from three per cent in 2005 to seven per cent in 2006. Motorola’s gain is possibly Samsung’s loss as their market share has dropped from six per cent in 2005 to four per cent in 2006.

    LG has consolidated its position as the market leader in the CDMA handset market. The current 49 per cent market share is an improvement of over 43 per cent market share LG had in 2005. While Nokia managed to retain its share of the CDMA handsets, Samsung and Motorola have lost market share from 17 per cent to eight per cent and 12 per cent to four per cent respectively.

  • UTV buys Indiagames, Ignition Entertainment for Rs 1.28 billion

    UTV buys Indiagames, Ignition Entertainment for Rs 1.28 billion

    MUMBAI: UTV Software Communications Ltd. is making a foray into gaming by acquiring controlling stakes in UK-based Ignition Entertainment and Indiagames for a total for Rs 1.28 billion.

    While UTV will pay Indiagames, a mobile and broadband gaming company, Rs 680 million, the acquisition of 70 per cent in Ignition Entertainment will cost Rs 600 million. Ignition Entertainment is a console gaming company with an annual revenue of around $15 million.

    “We presently create, develop and aggregate content for TV, movies and animation. With an objective to create content across all entertainment platforms, the company has ventured into gaming. This will give us exposure to the rapidly growing mobile, PC and console gaming industry,” UTV said in a release.

    Indiagames CEO and founder Vishal Gondal will continue to head the company and evolve synergies with other UTV businesses in the creation of cutting-edge games. The company reported annual revenues of around $5 million for the last fiscal and has an employee strength of 270 people. “Post transaction the shareholders of the company will include Cisco Systems, Adobe Inc. and Management. IG is presently involved with mobile game development, publishing and distribution across 67 countries through 80 telecom partners like Vodafone, Verizon, Hutch and Airtel. Its latest venture into PC games distributed online through broadband ISPs like BSNL, MTNL, Airtel and Tata VSNL amongst others is expected to be a major value driver,” the release said.

    The acquisition of Ignition Entertainment will bring to the table relationships with hardware manufacturers, game developers and distributors such as Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, SNK, Konami, Atari, Virgin and Wal Mart. “Ignition is presently developing a top end game ‘WarDevil’ budgeted at around 10 million pounds and is expected to release it in the year 2008 exclusively on the Sony Playstation3(tm) (PS3) platform. PS3 was launched in November 2006 in Japan and the US and it is expected to sell more than 30 million units by the end of 2008,” UTV said.

    UTV plans to invest Rs 1.35 billion in the development of animation movies over the next three years. “Simi Nallaseth, one of the key animators of the international smash-hit animation movie Ice Age is developing one of the productions. Arnab Chaudhury, former Head of Channel [V] and Creative Director of Turner International (Asia), will be working on another project. We are now in the scripting stage of our CG animation production with Will Smith’s Overbrook,” UTV said.

    UTV’s scrip, however, fell 4.83 per cent on the BSE, closing the day at Rs 263.95.

  • PAKA to present a Dilip Chhabria modified Maruti Swift to one lucky viewer

    PAKA to present a Dilip Chhabria modified Maruti Swift to one lucky viewer

    MUMBAI: Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 (PAKA), has added another initiative to engage its young audience. One lucky kid who guesses the correct winners from Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 and votes for them across the eight categories will get an exclusive custom designed Maruti Swift from automobile designer Dilip Chhabria.

    This year, Pogo Amazing Kids Awards, for the first time, includes an audience poll as well as jury decision to determine the winners. The contest will begin on 28 November, 2006. Kids can choose their winners by sending an SMS to ‘8558’ or MTNL users can call – 1250 111 158 and BSNL and Airtel landline users can call – 1250 158, states an official release.

    Turner International India Networks, India and South Asia vice president, advertising sales Monica Tata said, “We are extremely happy to have Dilip Chhabria as a part of Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006. Turner has always believed in taking our brands beyond the scope of television and this initiative will prove to be a milestone in our venture. This is one of the most prestigious awards to be given away by a kids’ television show. The idea is to make POGO Amazing Kids Awards 2006 rewarding for both participants and viewers.”

    Commenting on his involvement with kids and Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006, the promoter of Dilip Chhabria Design Pvt Ltd., Dilip Chhabria said, “I am glad to be associated with Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006. This will be the first time that I will be designing a car for a new audience and I believe that kids are the building blocks of the future. They play a very critical and influential role in today’s time. This is a unique and exciting opportunity for me.”

    Pogo Amazing Kids Awards 2006 is divided into two sections, Pogo Voice Awards and Pogo Kids Awards. The Pogo Kids Awards segment will recognise exceptional talent and brilliance and reward them for their extraordinary talents in multiple areas and the Pogo Voice Awards will yet again empower children from all over India to vote for their favourite celebrity icons amongst nominees in various award categories.

    Instituted by Pogo in December 2004, the Awards recognise child wonders and reward them for their outstanding achievements in eight categories – arts, sports, music, singing, dance, genius, leadership and entertainment.

  • AnyTime clinches VoD deal with IOL

    AnyTime clinches VoD deal with IOL

    aMUMBAI: AnyTime, Asia Pacific’s video-on-demand channel (VoD), has signed a five-year distribution agreement with India’s broadband provider, India On Line Broadband Ltd (IOL).

    Four million homes in Mumbai and Delhi will have access to AnyTime VoD movie channel and interactive games channels by March 2007, asserts an official release.

    The AnyTime VoD movie channel will be the exclusive provider of Hollywood VoD programs and will form the cornerstone of the MTNL-IOL and BSNL-IOL IPTV platforms, supported by BSNL respectively.

    The AnyTime channel is expected to go live in December, making a wide range of Hollywood movies-both new releases and library titles. Besides that interactive games would be available on-demand which will introduce a new level of choice and control in entertainment in India, adds the release.

    AnyTime CEO Craig Zimbulis said, “This is an unprecedented deal for IPTV in the region. On-demand delivery of video content is set to boom in India, this is a country that clearly has a huge appetite for next generation services. IOL, MTNL, BSNL and AnyTime by working together will be able to offer Indian viewers an entirely new way to enjoy and consume Hollywood entertainment.”

    “Singapore’s transparent media regulatory framework and its abundant supply of skilled industry professionals have given AnyTime a great home and assisted AnyTime in realising our Asia Pacific growth plans and ambitions,” he added.

  • Optibase and Time expand IPTV services for MTNL India

    Optibase and Time expand IPTV services for MTNL India

    MUMBAI: Optibase Ltd. and its partner Time Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, broadband content services operator, are expanding their IPTV solution to India’s state-owned telecom service provider, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL).

    MTNL recently launched IPTV services through Time Broadband, utilising Optibase’s IPTV MGW 5100 platforms for its digital IPTV head-end operation at the company’s network operating centre.

    Time Broadband is all set to deploy IPTV services on both TV and PC delivery through network and internet service providers across India. Following the initial deployment of Optibase MGW 5100 IP video head-ends providing 26 channels of telco-grade streaming, Optibase has now supplied an additional 74 channels, totaling 100 MPEG-4 Part 10 H.264/advanced video coding (AVC) channels, asserts an official release.

    Together with Time Broadband, Optibase is enabling the launch of their IPTV services in Delhi – one of the affluent areas in terms of average revenue per user (ARPU), with high sign-on rates for broadband internet services.

    Time Broadband Services managing director Sujata Dev said, “During the initial deployment, Optibase demonstrated their extensive IPTV know-how relating to H.264 AVC. We decided to select the Optibase MGW 5100 integrated digital head ends for the full-scale commercial launch. We are confident that this productive relationship with the high level of commitment from Optibase will continue into the future with our plans for further growth of our IPTV services in prominent locations of the Indian market through multiple telecom operator relationships.”

    Optibase CFO Danny Lustiger added, “We are delighted with the success of our first installation of Time Broadband at MTNL Delhi network and look forward to a long-term collaboration with our globally eminent CDN partners, driving the large scale deployment of IPTV in India. Optibase combines high quality products with world-class services, providing MTNL with a carrier-grade IPTV solution required for the expansion of triple-play services in the Delhi metropolitan high growth potential market.”