Latin America continues to be a hotspot for next-generation television. The latest pay-TV provider to move beyond linear TV is Grupo TVCable Ecuador, which is deploying consumer portal and e-mail services for its subscribers, with trials kicking off the rollout TV Everywhere later in the year to leverage its broadband customer base.

Ecuador's largest cable operator hopes to position itself at the nexus of several technology adoption curves. According to the Latin American Council of Multichannel Advertising (LACMA), pay-TV grew in all Latin American countries in the past year, and more than 55 percent of Latin Americans now have access to some form of pay-TV. Also, there are 50 million high-speed Internet households in Latin America, with more broadband mandates by many governments across the region. Meanwhile, Informa Telecoms & Media (News - Alert) projects the mobile market to grow 7.1 percent this year, totaling 742 million active mobile subscriptions.

"Providing our customers with world-class portal and e-mail services is of vital importance to Grupo TVCable Ecuador, and we're particularly excited about the opportunity to entertain and inform our high-speed Internet subscribers," said Grupo TVCable Ecuador CEO Jorge Schwartz.

The MSO is tapping Synacor's (News - Alert) TV Everywhere solutions and cloud-based Identity Management (IDM) services for the rollout. As part of the trial, Grupo TVCable Ecuador's high-speed Internet subscribers will gain access to the consumer-facing, Spanish-language portal, where Synacor's next-gen start pages will give Grupo TVCable a branded, customized and revenue-generating opportunity to engage its subscribers more deeply. The portal will also allow the cableco to deliver content, services and apps to their consumers across multiple devices, anytime, anywhere via a browser.

"Our relationship with Synacor is valuable in providing Grupo TVCable Ecuador further opportunities to cross promote many of our services to our customers, keeping them entertained, engaged and loyal,” said Schwartz. “We select and invest in leading technology firms that give us sustainable competitive advantages. We have started the trial planning, scheduling and early execution steps. Our early look at Synacor's platform and its capabilities is both reassuring and promising. Welcome, Synacor, to Latin America."

"Latin America not only one of the fastest growing and largest economies in the world, but also surging in high-speed Internet use and mobile device proliferation," said Synacor CEO, Ron Frankel. "We're honored to help Grupo TVCable Ecuador provide their subscribers with incomparable portal and e-mail services, increasing their enjoyment while also ultimately increasing their ARPU.”

He added, “The region's rapid high-speed Internet adoption and mobile device escalation offers a unique opportunity for Grupo TVCable Ecuador to introduce the multi-screen experience to its subscribers, so they can access their e-mail, special services and favorite content when they want, where they want, and on the device of their choosing."