SoftAtHome, an independent software company for broadband, video, and analytics, equipped the hybrid OTT/Satellite set-top box targeting several African countries. It has been deployed in Ivory Coast and will soon be rolled out in Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali. Additional African countries are planned to be deployed in a later phase. The hybrid OTT/Satellite Set-Top Box natively embeds African paid-TV Canal+ International and several additional connected services including Orange VOD, Canal+ Replay, YouTube, TV5Monde+, or local TV channels. The STB is designed to simply integrate additional OTT-connected services.

The hybrid set-top box integrates SoftAtHome’s ImpressioNG Platform as a Service for an outstanding immersive user experience, putting back the end-user at the heart of the experience and enabling a detailed customization according to its viewing experience and usages.

ImpressioNG relies on VASP cloud gateway platform, a service platform aggregation that centralizes STB service management, and facilitates integration and deployment of third-party connected services while providing universal search aggregation and content deep linking to all services including YouTube content. It is compatible with SoftAtHome AppStore, a unique service platform controlled by the operator that centralizes and accelerates service delivery.

SoftAtHome integrates voice control into RDK, Android, or Linux devices in the home using far-field and push-to-talk. The company joined Amazon’s Alexa Solution Provider network in 2021 and integrates voice control on devices such as smart speakers, traditional set-top boxes, Home Gateways, or repeaters. At IBC, SoftAtHome will demonstrate video and IoT use cases, voice commands for device pairing over Wi-Fi, parental control settings for Internet access, Wi-Fi access for visitors, or network speed tests, all controlled by voice.

Thanks to the SoftAtHome solution, Orange wanted to deploy a unique service in several territories, to become a super-aggregator of services and content combining satellite broadcast and OTT compatible with various broadband networks (ADSL, Fiber, and 4G).

David Viret Lange, CEO of SoftAtHome said: “SoftAtHome is proud to have developed ImpressioNG white labelled user experience as a service, selected by Orange, that brings a customizable user experience, content super aggregation, and OTT connected services”.