Eighteen new members for the Open IPTV Forum in six months as ABox42, Axonista, BluFocus, DCC Labs, Digital TV Labs and mistserver.org join.
Following a successful IBC, the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) is pleased to welcome set top box vendor ABox42, application developer Axonista, testing businesses BluFocus and Digital TV Labs, and technology companies DCC Labs and mistserver.org as new members. These new important contributors increase the breadth of industry support and give OIPF’s open specifications for Connected TV wider relevance within the IPTV eco-system.
All intend to participate in the Forum’s on-going work to shape the future of a global mass-market for Internet Connected TV through development of the Forum’s free-to-use, open, interoperable specifications for Connected TV services and devices. Specifications written by the OIPF have already been incorporated into the work of the HbbTV Consortium.
Dr Nilo Mitra, OIPF President, announced the new members in advance of the forthcoming OIPF Plenary, to be hosted by Sony Corporation in Tokyo, Japan.
Welcoming the new members, he notes “We believe these new members, who are choosing to join and participate in the go-to-market work of the Forum now, as well as those companies and regional standards bodies like HbbTV who are adopting the OIPF specifications, are the most significant and visible sign of increased industry confidence in OIPF as the single body to organize and standardize Connected TV technologies. We all agree that open standards and interoperability are key to the future of a viable, successful, mass-market Connected TV Industry that meets long term consumer expectations.”
Matthias Greve CEO of ABox 42 says "ABox42 feel it is really important that STB vendors and the whole IPTV value chain embrace open specifications. The Open IPTV Forum is in the best position to organize and standardize technologies for the TV industry of the future"
Founder and CTO of Axonista Daragh Ward said “Axonista operates in what we think is the most exciting confluence of industries on the planet today. As app developers, OIPF membership gives us opportunity to collaborate with other leaders in disciplines from hardware manufacturing to content creation with a view to genuinely shaping the future of what connected TV can deliver. Mass adoption of Connected TV will require a build up of trust and familiarity among users through reliable, robust and intuitive interfaces and it is in this area that we most look forward to applying our experience."
Paulette E. Pantoja, CEO and Founder of BluFocus says “BluFocus is excited to join the OIPF, having been involved in certification testing for various entertainment technologies, content, software and hardware for many years. Additionally, BluFocus is an active participant in many technical committees providing assistance for the development of new technologies and standards. We look forward to the opportunity to bring our knowledge and experience and assist the OIPF and its members in working together to achieve the goal of a ‘plug and play’ interoperability experience for consumers”.
Marek Kielczewski, CEO, DCC Labs comments “In creating a global mass market for IPTV through open specifications, the work of the OIPF is vitally important to enabling business success for all players in all regions and across the Connected TV ecosystem. DCC Labs is pleased to participate and support the OIPF in successfully organizing and enabling common industry standards on a global basis".
Keith Potter, CEO of Digital TV Labs says, “We strongly believe that Open Standards such as OIPF, and conformance to such standards, are fundamental to ensuring interoperability and cost effective IPTV implementation.”
Alfred Dijs, Founder and President, mistserver.org commented “Open standards and cross-platform compatibility are essential for a successful global media business. We’re delighted to be part of the OIPF and helping in the development of open standards. We look forward to sharing our own innovations with fellow forum members".
These latest OIPF new members join over 50 leading IPTV industry companies currently contributing to the work of the Forum, including JT Global (Jersey Telecom), STC (Saudi Telecom) and one of the worlds largest Set Top Box Vendors, Humax, who were previously welcomed as new members in June 2012.
The OIPF has been successful in attracting smaller enterprises throughout 2012, with other new members including 3 Screen Solutions, Broadpeak, Digisoft.tv, dotscreen, Espial, and Zenterio as well as content and broadcast specialists including The Weather Network and Stingray Digital Group. OIPF President Dr. Mitra says “This ensures the needs and market requirements of all players in the IP and Connected TV value chain continue to be reflected in the work of the Forum as our specifications are deployed globally.”
Large, small and medium size companies can propose themselves for OIPF membership today by contacting the Secretariat (
[email protected]) to initiate the membership process. A maximum 80% fee discount is offered to businesses with revenue under €10m.
For further information please contact:
Darren J Vogel (OIPF Marketing Director):
[email protected] / +44 7973 506398 / Skype: djvogel
OIPF Secretariat:
[email protected] / +33 492 94 43 83
The Open IPTV Forum will be present at forthcoming industry events including OTT TV Asia in Shanghai, November 15th 2012. Interview and meeting requests are welcome.
Notes for editors:
The Open IPTV Forum enables and accelerates creation of a mass market for IPTV by defining and publishing freely available standards-based specifications for end-end IPTV services of the future.
Founding members Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Orange - FT Group, Panasonic, TP Vision, Samsung, Sony Corporation and Telecom Italia, have since been joined by the following leading industry stakeholders:
Alcatel-Lucent, ANT Software, BBC, Bouygues Telecom, Broadpeak, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Digisoft.tv, D-Link, Dolby, Dotscreen, DTS, Espial, Fraunhofer, Gemalto, Huawei, Humax, HwaCom, Intel, Intertrust Technologies, IRT, ITRI, JT Global, KDDI, MediaTek Inc, Motorola, Mstar Semiconductor, Nagra/Kudelski, Opera Software, PCCW, Penki Kontinentai, Perpetual Solutions, RAI, Rogers, Rovi, Saudi Telecom, 3 Screen Solutions, SES, Sharp, Sigma Designs, Stingray Digital, Technicolor, The Weather Network, TeliaSonera, Testronics, TNO, Toshiba, Verimatrix, Zenterio, ZTE and Zyxel.
Members of the Open IPTV Forum are working together on the development of open specifications because they recognise that combining the expertise of all parties involved will help to streamline and accelerate deployments of IPTV technologies. Their aim is to make the next generation of IPTV a mass-market service and to maximise the benefits of IPTV and Connected TVs for consumers as well as the industry.
As a collaborative industry body the OIPF has incorporated existing standards in to the Forum’s specifications for IP and Connected TV wherever possible, defining how these standards should be joined together in a way that provides global consistency whilst enabling regional variations. The OIPF specifications are also being adopted by complementary groups including HbbTV - the regional standard that has been agreed by European broadcasters for Hybrid TV solutions. HbbTV has incorporated, and is based upon, the OIPF Specifications originally created by the Open IPTV Forum.
A forthcoming device certification and IOT program will see the OIPF logo appearing on numerous services and devices, aiding consumers, service providers and manufacturers as new technologies are delivered to retail, end user living rooms and across multiple mobile screens on a global basis.
Potential new members are welcomed across the communications and entertainment industries, including network operators, content providers, service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers and home and network infrastructure providers.
In 2012 a reduced membership fee has been introduced to encourage participation from smaller, innovative businesses and application developers who want to work with CE device vendors to agree common standards for enriched entertainment – see
www.oipf.tv or email
[email protected] for more information.
ABOX 42 is a German based manufacturer of OTT, IPTV, Cloud TV set top boxes for the global market. Based on four years of market experience with over 100 OTT services running on the ABOX42 hardware / software, ABOX42 offers the most advanced internet and web technologies integrated and ready to run in its platform. Their turn-key hardware offers compliance to latest streaming, DRM and GUI standards like HTML4/5, HbbTV, OIPF, DLNA, HLS, SmoothStreaming and MPEG DASH.
Axonista is a leading provider of second screen, OTT and metadata management services across a variety of platforms for international broadcasters including ESPN, MTV Networks, Setanta Sports and TV3. They are based in Dublin, Ireland.
BluFocus Inc. is an advanced testing, certification and advisory service specialist for the Entertainment industry. BluFocus tests and certifies technologies, content, apps and software that live and stream on/to Blu-ray discs, DVD’s, Set Top Boxes, Mobile Devices, Displays, Gaming Consoles and more in the areas of broadcast, home entertainment, theatrical, digital distribution, etc. More information is at
www.blufocus.com, or call +1.818.294.7605.
DCC Labs is a digital TV software design house specializing in low footprint, optimized middleware solutions and services for IPTV, Cable, Satellite and Broadcast set top boxes and devices. Headquartered in Warsaw, DCC Labs highly skilled team of seasoned software engineers are heavily experienced in delivering quality solutions to Tier 1 DTH operators. Our firmware solutions have been successfully deployed by Tier 1 operators in Europe with over 2 million licensed devices currently used by subscribers in the field.
Digital TV Labs is a leading supplier of testing products and professional services to over 300 CE manufacturers and operators globally, providing services that cover CI Plus, DVB/ISDB-T, HbbTV, MPEG-DASH and OIPF.
Mistserver.org is the open-source multimedia streaming server developed and maintained by DDVTECH, headquartered in Rotterdam. Mistserver.org aspires to be the new streaming server software product of choice for small, medium and large operations. Built with three key principles in mind; stability, scalability and modularity, Mistserver provides a solid foundation for any web/video platform built to last. In the same Mist family, DDVTECH developed the automated load balancing software Miststewards and operates the hosted Mistcenter solution.
