Advanced Digital Broadcast Holdings S.A. today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the six leading U.S. cable operators, together with major consumer electronics and information technology companies.

 

The Memorandum of Understanding supports CableLabs’ (News - Alert) tru2way technology platform for delivering two-way interactive digital cable services. The cable operators that have signed the Memorandum of Understanding include Comcast, Time Warner (News - Alert), Cox, Cablevision, Charter and Bright House. From the set-top makers’ side, ADB Group and Digeo also signed the agreement.

 

The digital television manufacturers included in the Memorandum are Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony, and Intel (News - Alert) from information technology side. The cable operators mentioned together represent over 80 percent of all U.S. cable subscribers with some 105 million homes passed.

 

Seen as a significant step forward in creating a unified basis, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will help ensure consumers purchasing digital cable devices will be able to receive new and innovative interactive cable services. It also allows the broadcasting networks, content owners, cable operators and equipment manufacturers to develop creative interactive services that can be provided directly to cable customers.

 

The signatories are also creating a Founders Advisory Board (FAB), composed of representatives of the cable television, content, consumer electronics and information technology industries for advisory input to CableLabs, in order to develop the tru2way platform further.

 

ADB Group recently announced that its set-top box affiliate company had introduced a new range of products designed specially for the U.S. cable market, including a set-back box, for which ADB has already achieved tru2way certification from the CableLabs.

 

The Group's U.S. cable boxes are powered by the OCAP middleware solution provided by the Group's software affiliates Osmosys and Vidiom, the latter being also a recognized industry leader in tru2way solutions.

 

Francois Pogodalla, deputy CEO for the ADB Group, commented, "We are pleased and honored to be a recognized part of the U.S. cable market development. This milestone gives further substance to our commitment to create the next generation of interactive digital cable TV together with the leading U.S. cable operators. Open standard technology solutions have always formed a key part of our strategy. We are looking forward to contributing our technology knowledge to the industry and to bringing new tru2way™ based innovations and solutions to the US market."

 

Founded in 1995, the ADB Group develops solutions required to view and interact with digital TV broadcast through cable, satellite, terrestrial and IP networks. The Group mainly sells consumer premise devices, including set-top boxes, with over 10 million units deployed since 1997.