Indian TV Group Reliance BIG TV Selects Thomson Headend System for Massive Deployment of 300 TV Channels over Hybrid Networks

Paris (France) / Amsterdam (Netherlands) – Reliance BIG TV, a new venture of India’s largest private company Reliance, is to launch 300 high-definition and standard-definition channels, as well as 50 radio channels, using a complete head end system from Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS), the worldwide leader in video solutions.

Reliance has selected Thomson’s innovative solutions for launching and managing a hybrid distribution network of satellite direct to home (DTH) and IPTV over broadband, for high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) video services throughout India. Using Thomson’s video head ends, Reliance is able to optimise its distribution network to launch a large number of channels, ensure excellent quality of service, and reach more viewers.

“This is an ambitious project and launching such a large bouquet of channels, including HD channels, over a dual-distribution network is a challenging proposition which Reliance Big TV is uniquely qualified to meet. Viewer quality expectations are high and satellite bandwidth over India is limited,” said Mr. Arun Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance BIG TV. “We selected Thomson’s solutions as they indisputably offer best-in-class performance for picture quality and compression capacity.”

"Our solutions have been specifically developed to reply to the pain points encountered by operators when choosing their systems for delivering video – notably quality of service, return on investment and network distribution optimisation for delivery of bandwidth heavy services such as HD.” said Didier Trutt, Senior Executive Vice President of the Systems Division within Thomson.

At its launch in later this year Reliance BIG TV will offer 300 HD and SD television channels, making it the first to launch HD video services in India. Reliance is offering its customers a choice of satellite or broadband delivery platforms. To do this cost effectively demands a flexible head end which can manage both DTH and IPTV platforms simultaneously and transparently.

Thomson has supplied Reliance with a complete video headend for hybrid networks, including its market-leading compression solutions featuring the Thomson ViBE Multi-channel MPEG-4 SD encoders, ViBE Premium MPEG-4 encoders for HD video, XMS monitoring equipment, and NetProcessor repurposing and multiplexing solutions. In addition Thomson is supplying full engineering, consulting and support services, including integrating the headend with Reliance’s existing equipment.

Thomson has also supported Reliance in creating a redundancy system on a larger scale, providing two separate uplinks which are 1,000 kilometers apart to protect viewing enjoyment being disrupted by exceptional weather factors such as monsoons.

Network agnostic, Thomson’s solutions are the heart of some of the world’s largest deployments of IPTV, Triple Play, VoIP and Mobile TV. Thomson is unique in being able to offer a complete end-to-end solution for deployment of video and triple play services – from transmitters, video head ends and video on demand servers, to service platforms and consumer premises equipment.


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Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, ”media and entertainment” markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the financial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Thomson: the worldwide leader in video solutions
Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) is the world leading provider of solutions for the creation, management, delivery and access of video, for the Communication, Media & Entertainment (CME) industries. Our clients are studios, broadcasters, network operators (telcos, broadband, satellite and cable operators) and an increasing range of professional users of videos. We deliver superior value to our customers through a unique combination of industry leading technologies, systems and services, enabling us to offer differentiated and innovative end-to-end solutions based on a broad portfolio of Intellectual Property. At the cross-roads of the CME industries, leveraging our core competencies in video but also audio, data and voice, we enable our customers to take advantage of the growth opportunities brought on by the digital convergence revolution. For more information: http://www.thomson.net.