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CanalDigitaal Delivers World’s First Wireless Decoder System For Digital Satellite TV To Its Customers


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Caton Supplying Whole Home Video Streaming System with Peerless Wi-Fi Technology from Airgo

IBC2006, Amsterdam, The Netherlands — September 7, 2006 — CanalDigitaal, Airgo Networks and Caton Overseas today announced that CanalDigitaal, The Netherlands’ sole commercial direct broadcast satellite provider, will offer its customers the Caton V2O Wireless Home Media Network, the world’s first satellite wireless STB system capable of whole-home video streaming. The V2O Wireless Home Media Network incorporates Airgo’s TrueMIMO® Media technology within a master media server with PVR and up to two slave boxes to receive live and recorded content anywhere in a household.

“This is the start of a global home networking revolution for service providers and their customers,” said Beau Beck, vice president of business development for Airgo Networks. “Not only is a Wi-Fi-enabled STB an attractive value proposition to consumers – enabling content to be used more conveniently – but it lays the groundwork for service providers to provide more and better features. Wireless deployment within the home also eliminates the prohibitive cost of cabling which opens up great economic opportunity for service providers.”

Kees Färber, COO, CanalDigitaal agrees, adding, “Previously when we considered what it would take to increase service deployment to our customers, the costs were too prohibitive. There was no way to make a business model work when technicians were needed to pull wire throughout a home including spending the time necessary for complex multiple TV set and appliance service installations. The wire-free Airgo-enabled Caton system completely removes those costs and provides a significant business opportunity for us.”

Caton’s V2O Wireless Home Media Network, the world’s first wireless STB capable of whole-home video streaming, is being demonstrated at IBC2006. “The V2O is the only market leading wireless solution out there that is capable of distributing broadcast quality multi-channel video throughout a subscriber’s household,” said Mr. Färber. Integrated with Airgo’s True MIMO chipset is Caton’s proprietary RapidMedia protocol. It is a highly efficient video streaming protocol with smart flow control, error correction and network storage technology, that is able to deliver independent live channels and PVR content throughout a 4-story residence with concrete walls in broadcast quality.

The Caton V2O will provide CanalDigitaal customers with an easy solution for digital satellite television on all television sets at home. There is no need for additional wiring to enjoy all of digital television’s features on all television sets. The V2O’s wireless decoder delivers the superior television signal of CanalDigitaal throughout a home up to four stories high, and is equipped with a hard disk recorder (PVR), full electronic programming guide (EPG) and an intuitive user interface. The recorded content on the hard disk recorder can be accessed on any connected television set in the house. CanalDigitaal customers can now decide what they want to watch, at what time they want to watch it and on which television set they want to watch it.

The V2O Wireless Home Media Network will be available in the fourth quarter of 2006 for a selected group of CanalDigitaal customers. The cost of owning a V2O Wireless Home Media Network will be lower than currently available PVR solutions in the market. Customers will save on the initial hardware purchase and installation. More importantly customers will save every month on their subscription fees as the V2O Wireless Home Media Network works with a single smartcard and a single subscription for viewing all subscribed channels on up to three televisions. Kees Färber, COO, CanalDigitaal concludes: “The V2O Wireless Home Media Network stands for everything that’s right about digital satellite television: It delivers the best television signal on any location in or outside your home, giving you the benefit of modern technologies like an Electronic Programming Guide and PVR hard disk recording at a much lower cost than comparable cable-TV offerings.”

About Airgo Networks, Inc.
The founders of Airgo Networks have pioneered a wireless communication technique known as Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). A breakthrough in wireless, MIMO OFDM has been adopted as the foundation for defining the new IEEE 802.11n standard for next generation Wi-Fi®. Airgo is first-to-market with 802.11a/b/g-compliant MIMO enhanced chipset, software and reference design solutions. Now in its third generation, Airgo’s True MIMO® technology has surpassed the speed of wireline connections, enabling the most bandwidth-intensive applications and eliminating the need for wires at home, at work, and in public places. Founded in January 2001, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA.

About CanalDigitaal
CanalDigitaal is currently the largest provider of digital TV in the Netherlands with more than 650.000 customers. CanalDigitaal operates via direct broadcast satellite, providing customers access to all Dutch public and commercial broadcasters, premium sports and movie services, thematic channels and a wide range of free to air channels in various languages currently available on Astra (more than 200). CanalDigitaal delivers “excellent quality of picture and sound” (according to the Dutch Consumers Society in 2005) when compared to other types of digital TV.

About Caton
Caton Overseas Limited is a leading provider of professional and consumer digital TV and IPTV products and solutions based in China. With facilities in both Beijing and Shanghai, the company has a very strong R&D focus in media and wireless networking. The result is high-value-added digital TV solutions including complete end-to-end community IPTV solutions, the Wireless Home Media Network and wireless IP STBs. Its innovative technologies and products have positioned Caton in a leading position in the digital TV industry in China as well as in the worldwide market.

Airgo, Airgo Networks, the Airgo logo, True MIMO and Wireless Without Limits are registered trademarks of Airgo Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. V2O, RapidMedia and SCMC are trademarks of Caton Overseas Ltd.. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.



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