Advanced Television

Viaccess-Orca partners with Zodiac Systems

September 6, 2019

Viaccess-Orca (VO), a provider of OTT and TV platforms, content protection, and advanced data solutions, has partnered with Zodiac Systems, a specialist in cloud and device video service-delivery software.

The partnership will offer a joint solution making it easier and more cost-effective for TV operators to deploy VO’s cloud-hosted TVaaS and Service Delivery Platform (SDP) with existing legacy STBs. The Zodiac Stack device software and Matrix cloud integration platform support both legacy and next-generation environments, empowering service providers to rapidly deliver feature-rich content on every screen.

With the jointly designed solution, any STB — including IPTV, hybrid, cable, and OTT — can be connected to VO’s SDP and TVaaS. The Zodiac Stack currently supports a growing list of over 150 STB models, making this solution more attractive over time. The comprehensive solution also acts as a cloud integration platform for any existing CAS/DRM or any other BSS/OSS system, enabling service providers to retain their existing third-party vendor ecosystem once integrated with Zodiac Matrix.

“The combined VO and Zodiac solution simplifies back-end migrations, allowing operators to provide a blend of services across STBs, smoothly handling the transition between existing backends and the SDP, whether on-premises or cloud-hosted,” said Derek Harrar, CEO at Zodiac Systems. “By enabling computational off-loading into the cloud, the solution opens up the possibility of launching new services on lower-end devices, which is an exciting opportunity for service providers.”

The Zodiac Stack device software and Matrix cloud integration platform target any STB, no matter how old. In fact, STBs over 10 years old have successfully been integrated with VO’s TV platform, so that all subscribers, even those with vintage STBs, can benefit from new features like advanced search, VOD, catch-up TV, NPVR, and advanced advertising models. Combined, the Zodiac Stack and Matrix include all necessary components that integrate with the target device’s hardware abstraction layer and the device drivers to enable customisation, innovation, and feature replacement in the future.

“The jointly developed solution delivers an unprecedented value proposition for operators, helping them reduce churn by enhancing the user experience across the entire installed base of legacy STBs. Now, they can also easily launch attractive new services offered by VO’s TV platform, including browser-based applications and popular OTT services,” said Pierre-Alexandre Bidard, Vice President, Marketing Security and Partnerships at VO. “By extending the lifespan of the STBs, our solution helps operators maximize ROI and reduce support costs while providing uniform consistency across the installed base of devices.”

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