S3 Group Accelerates Latest Pace Mediaroom IPTV Set-Top Box Platform to Market

NAB Show, April 12 th, 2010 – Further to S3 Group’s selection by Microsoft to provide set-top-box (STB) testing services for Microsoft Mediaroom STBs, the company today announced that is has successfully completed testing the recently launched Mediaroom STB platform from Pace, the leading developer of digital TV technologies for the pay-TV industry. Pace recently announced that it is now the world’s second largest supplier of pay TV STBs, having sold over 17.2M STBs in 2009.

S3 Group, a provider of products, services and intellectual property (IP) to the Digital TV industry, is undertaking testing work for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to test new and derivative STB models for deployment by Mediaroom customers. S3 Group has increased testing capacity for Mediaroom STBs, enabling faster time-to-market for OEMs and more choice of STBs for Mediaroom operators. Mediaroom now delivers IPTV services to over 4 million subscriber households and supports features such as instant channel zapping, HD VoD, whole home DVR and  remote recording as well as  rich interactive TV applications.

Pace, which develops bespoke IP technologies for major pay-TV operators across the globe including CANAL+ and Viasat, recently launched a new set-top box platform using Microsoft’s Mediaroom IPTV software. Pace’s Mediaroom credentials include a long-standing relationship with BT; Pace has developed both set-top boxes for the BT Vision service, including the new Vision+ STB.

“Our world-class engineering team has created this customisable platform to enable operators to quickly and easily roll out IPTV, hybrid broadcast/broadband and OTT (over-the-top) services,” said Olivier Thivolet, Chief Technical Engineer, Pace. ”By testing Pace’s Mediaroom STB platform to rigorous standards, S3 Group has played an important role in enabling us to bring a service-ready, high-quality, stable product to market faster.”

“Successful testing of new set-top box platforms provides a distinct advantage for OEMs in the increasingly competitive race to win deployment contracts with Operators. S3 Group has a long and successful relationship with Pace which has extended to bringing Pace’s latest STB platform through the Microsoft Mediaroom testing process. With a certified platform, Pace can now capitalise on market opportunities in the Mediaroom ecosystem,” commented Paul Kavanagh, General Manager, North America, S3 Group.

About S3 Group

S3 Group provides services, products and IP to the Digital TV industry, Telehealth and Semiconductor industries. The company’s TV Technology Business Line has over 15 years experience with global operators, Set-Top Box (STB) manufacturers, middleware and conditional access vendors and semiconductor companies. We provide complete solutions using skilled engineers and project management resources specializing in Lead System Integration Services, Consultancy Services, Equipment Upgrade/ Maintenance and TV Products. Founded in 1986, S3 Group has engineering development centers in San Jose, USA, Ireland (Dublin and Cork), the Czech Republic, Poland and Portugal and sales offices and representatives globally. For further information please visit www.s3group.com/tv-technology.