Advanced Television

EchoStar shutting down IPTV service

August 12, 2011

By Colin Mann

Satellite operations provider EchoStar is to start shutting down its satellite-based IPTV delivery service, ViP-TV, at the beginning of September, ending completely at the end of the month.

The company will work with customers on a case-by-case basis to help them migrate to either a different service or to a competitor.

EchoStar entered the MPEG-4 IPTV channel delivery market in 2007, receiving a boost to its efforts by stepping in to meet the service demand created when competitor SES Americom shut down its similar IP Prime service in the middle of 2009.

Two companies are well placed to provide alternative satellite delivery services: Avail-TVN and the Comcast Media Center. Avail-TVN’s COO Jon Romm has confirmed that the company has already transitioned three former EchoStar customers and is working with others.

Romm has issued an open letter to the IPTV Industry in which he says that Avail-TVN would like to reassure ViP-TV customers and the industry that Avail-TVN is here to support ViP customers during this transition.

“MPEG-4 video services have always been, and remain, core to Avail-TVN’s business. In fact, Avail-TVN is the only company that delivers a combined MPEG-4 linear IPTV and Video On Demand solution. This is the business we are in and we are in it for good.

We invite ViP-TV customers and anyone else from the industry who is interested to join Avail-TVN for a webinar on Monday, August 15th at 2pm Eastern time to learn about how Avail-TVN plans to transition ViP customers so that their subscribers don’t miss a minute of programming and to learn of Avail-TVN’s extensive capabilities for supporting the IPTV business.”

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