TelcoTV Conference & Expo Announces 2008 Vision Awards Winners

TelcoTV, the premier meeting place for the massive convergence of the entertainment and communications markets, has determined the winners for the First Annual TelcoTV Vision Awards, which recognize the most innovative and visionary new video products, services, and applications announced in the communications industry in the past year.

Amino Communications Ltd., a maker of high-performance IPTV set-top boxes and gateways that is headquartered in Cambridgeshire, U.K., was honored by winning both the Customer Premises Equipment Category and Best of Show for its OmniNET130M, which at just 4.48-inches wide and 1.37 inches high is positioned as the smallest set-top box on the market.

AT&T's U-verse video service won the Service Provider Innovation Award for telcos with more than 50,000 subscribers for its U-verse Total Home DVR, which allows customers the freedom to play back standard-definition and high-definition recorded programs on up to seven additional U-verse-connected TVs in the home.

In the carrier innovation category for telcos with less than 50,000 subscribers, BEK Communications in Steele, N.D., won for BEKTV, which won the award based on its unique way of offering three channels of local content. BEK outfitted a mobile home with all the necessary equipment to allow local broadcasts of high school football and basketball games, as well as other local events and issues.

The 2008 TelcoTV Vision Awards winners were announced before an audience of eco-system partners, service providers, analysts, and members of the technology and business press at TelcoTV on Wednesday, November 12, at 1:30 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.

"From the smallest set-top box to the biggest carrier, the Vision Awards winners demonstrate that innovation and creativity are thriving in the telecommunications video marketplace," said Joe Braue, Senior Vice President and Group Director of the Light Reading Communications Network, who presented the awards at the Anaheim Convention Center on Wednesday. "We congratulate the winners and look forward to next year's awards program at TelcoTV 2009 in Orlando, Florida."

  The other winners were:

  Broadband Access Networks

• Calix (headquarters: Petaluma, Calif.) - 762G Optical Network Terminal (ONT)

The Calix 762G is uniquely focused on providing video services to multi-dwelling unit (MDU) and small to mid-sized business markets, with integrated support for both IPTV and RF video.

Conditional Access

• SecureMedia Inc. (headquarters: Natick, Mass.) - Encryptonite ONE System Release 2

SecureMedia's award-winning Encryptonite ONE™ System is an open platform CA/DRM software solution that provides the highest levels of digital content security.

  Middleware
  • Ericsson (headquarters: Stockholm) - IMS Integrated IPTV Middleware

Ericsson's IBM Integrated IPTV Middleware is being recognized for its unique integration with IMS, the IP Multimedia Subsystem, which is the technology framework that allows telcos to roll out advanced video services over TV, mobile devices, and computers.

  Encoding
  • Envivio Inc. (headquarters: South San Francisco, Calif.) - 4Caster C4

The 4Caster C4 claims to be the world's first truly converged broadcast encoder, which outputs live content to all 3 screens. It supports all the major codecs (including the Chinese AVS format) and has proven interoperability with all video enabled mobile handsets

The winners were determined by a distinguished panel of industry executives, analysts and service providers: Bernardin Arnason, Chairman, TelcoTV; Joseph Braue, SVP and Group Director, Light Reading; Steve Fravel, Video Services Manager, NTCA; Keith Galitz, President, Canby Telcom; Aditya Kishore, Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading; Kevin McGuire, VP Business & Technology, NTCA; and David Osborn, General Manager, Valley Telephone Cooperative. There was an overwhelming response to the announcement of the TelcoTV Vision Awards, with more than 65 entries received.

The seventh annual TelcoTV Conference & Expo is the largest IPTV and video event for communications service providers in the United States, with more than 150 exhibitors. It is produced by TechWeb's Light Reading Communications Network, which is part of United Business Media LLC, in partnership with the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces almost 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit at CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (www.techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution

and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

About United Business Media Ltd.

United Business Media Ltd. (UBM) (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com) is a global media and marketing services company that informs markets and brings the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. UBM serves professional and commercial communities, from IT professionals to doctors, from journalists to jewelry dealers, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. UBM employs more than 6,500 people in more than 30 countries. UBM's businesses operating in the U.S. include CMPMedica, Commonwealth Business Media, Everything Channel, PR Newswire, RISI, TechInsights, TechWeb and Think Services. UBM is listed on the London Stock Exchange (UBM.L) and has a market capitalization of $1.6 billion.

About NTCA

The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association is the premier association representing more than 580 locally owned and managed telecommunications cooperatives and commercial companies throughout rural America. NTCA provides its members with legislative, regulatory, and industry representation; meetings; publications and educational programs; and an array of employee benefit programs. Visit us at www.ntca.org.

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  Tony Fisch
  President, Tony Fisch Consulting
  (323) 461-7878
  tony@fischconsulting.com

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SOURCE: TechWeb

CONTACT: Tony Fisch, President, Tony Fisch Consulting, +1-323-461-7878,
tony@fischconsulting.com

Web Site: http://www.lightreading.com/

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