London, 23 August 2012 – Key players in the OTT landscape are set to congregate at TV Connect EurAsia East Europe 2012 as activity in the online-video sector explodes and a flurry of new services continue to come to market in Eastern Europe. With growing penetration of OTT services in the region, and with Turkey at the epicentre of the growth opportunity, Istanbul is the perfect location for the 2012 event.

What may have once been considered a region caught behind other countries, Eastern Europe is quickly catching up with its counterparts and in some areas, is leapfrogging Western markets by creating new market opportunities. In 2010 online-video accounted for only about 12% of all Internet traffic in Eastern Europe, but that figure is expected to leap to approximately 27% by 2015*.

Michael Dean, Research Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, comments: “The number of connected devices is set to dramatically increase over the next five years. In 2011 the installed base of all in-home connected devices was about 6.1 million, but we forecast that by the end of 2016 the number will have risen to just under of 100 million, fuelling additional OTT-service launches.”

Focussing on OTT content, connected devices, delivery platforms and the opportunities surrounding OTT-services, the sixth annual TV Connect EurAsia East Europe (previously known as IP&TV Forum EurAsia East Europe), holds more relevance than ever for CE Manufacturers and TV Providers including broadcasters, IPTV, OTTtv, cable and satellite players.

The event programme includes keynote presentations from Yasemin Ahiskali, Director of Business and Strategy Development at Zedpas Media, as well as Robert Berza, Head of Internet Division at Central European Media Enterprises, and Yaman Alpata, Director of Digital Media Marketing at TTNET. Ramazan Demir, VP Strategy and Business Development at Turk Telcom will also deliver a presentation on ‘Generating new revenue streams through solid multi-screen strategy’.

With the rapid growth of CE manufacturing in Turkey, organisers have also included a CE Manufacturer focus session, specifically designed to explore connected devices and their impact on TV services. Senior spokespeople from Samsung Electronics Europe, Sony and Media Sa, will provide insight on latest innovations and how they can increase the reach of content providers, as well as how to achieve true next generation TV.

With a host of operators, broadcasters, CE manufacturers and content providers from across the region attending, key players already signed up include Turk Telekom, Turkcell, TTNET, Czech Televizion, Sony, Amino Technologies, BH Telecom, Samsung Electronics Europe, Stream (formerly Omlet.ru), TV Kiss, INEA, VIPnet and TRT.

The conference and exhibition will take place at the Marmara Taksim Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, on 9-10 October 2012. To view the full event programme and register for TV Connect EurAsia Europe, please visit www.tvconnectevent.com/easterneurope or call  +44 (0) 20 7017 5506. Alternatively, keep up to date with event news on Twitter @tvconnecteurope.