SmartLabs Announces Launch of Rostelecom´s End-to-End Interactive TV Service

Online, June 1, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Subscribers of the new Interactive TV service will access the service from their set-top boxes connected to the Rostelecom´s network, from their Web-enabed PCs and, in the future, from Apple iPad apps.

SmartLabs´ SmartTUBE SDP Service Delivery Platform is at the core of the new Rostelecom´s cloud solution for Interactive TV services. This platform provisions the services, manages subscribers, integrates Rostelecom´s billing systems with all the partner cloud components, and enables creation and development of the STB user interface and video playback on PCs. Also, a key solution component is the Smartabs´ SmartMEDIA content distribution platform that provides for publishing, storing, recording and distributing of video content throughout Russia, particularly, enabling the On-Demand services including Pause Live TV, Time Shift TV, video recording and more.

Also, the end-to-end solution installed at Rostelecom includes DRM systems based on Verimatrix and Google Widevine, SmartSPY - a system for collecting, storing and analyzing statistics, and set-top boxes made by SmartLabs or third-party manufacturers. The operator is using four different types of set-top boxes, including SmartLabs SML-282 Base STBs. All the STBs, without any exception, run SmartLabs´ SmartTUBE UI software.

The cloud platform consists of the head-end located in Moscow, 7 macro-regional and 77 regional nodes delivering content to all the Rostelecom´s Interactive TV customers.

By connecting to the Rostelecom´s uniform IPTV service, the subscribers gain access to a wide variety of state-of-the-art interactive media entertainment services, i.e. terrestrial digital television, Video on Demand (VoD), Time Shift TV, Pause Live TV, Zabava.ru media portal, social networks and OTT services. A special gift has been prepared for the owners of iPad devices: on their tablets, they can enjoy the same services available on TVs with set-top boxes.

"With the end-to-end Interactive TV service from Rostelecom, all Russian people will rediscover the world of interactive television. Such a service is unprecedented in Russia," says Mikhail Grachev, SmartLabs CEO. "On our part, we have put every effort to create a solution that allows the operator to effectively market and deliver content so that the subscribers quickly and easily purchase the content and enjoy all the operator´s interactive services. Moreover, we are developing a cloud platform meeting Rostelecom´s approved plans. We believe that the cloud platform will deliver many new services and nice features to Rostelecom´s subscribers".