China's Guandong Cable Selects SeaChange for Major Video-on-Demand Service / Experts Collaborate for World's Largest Deployment of Interactive Educational Telev
30.09.1999, 16:44
Maynard, Mass. (PROTEXT) - In a new and progressive milestonein the worldwide emergence of video-on-demand, Guandong CableTelevision (GDCATV) has chosen SeaChange International (Nasdaq:SEAC) to support a new educational service to approximately400,000 Chinese television viewers by the end of next year. Chinais the world's most populous nation with 1.2 billion people and,with a color television in 96% of China's urban households,interactive television is seen as an effective way to support thegovernment's efforts to enhance education. GDCATV estimates its video-on-demand platform to be theworld's largest and has already installed SeaChange's ITV Systemfor the first phase of its service. GDCATV intends to provide avast library of educational programming that its viewers canselect on-demand, at any time, with the functionality of a VCR-like fast-forward, pause and rewind. The Guandong province standsout as a center of technological progress in China and itscapital, Guangzhou with a population of 6.7 million, ranks thirdin economic growth in China. "SeaChange's unparalleled expertise in advanced video serverapplications made them the logical choice for our ambitiousservice," said Wendy Ye, General Manager, GDCATV data servicecenter. "We quickly learned that SeaChange has the criticalunderstanding of cable operations that will ensure our successwith the capability to increase capacity as we extend our serviceto more homes." China's third-largest cable operator, GDCATV selectedSeaChange after extensive evaluation. In support of governmentministries' directives to broaden educational opportunities,GDCATV has invested in its operation with highly sophisticatedequipment, such as SeaChange's ITV System, which is a scalable,comprehensive video server platform for interactive televisionapplications. Additionally, GDCATV is employing an extensivefiber network and ATM switches. Global Net Broadband Industry Inc. (GNI), of Guangzhou, China,the system integrator, has developed specialized set-top boxesfor the Chinese market that work in conjunction with theSeaChange system. GNI has developed Headend and Applicationservers to support the return path. "Guandong Cable is one of the world's most sophisticatedoperators and has a clear vision of how interactive televisionwill provide greater educational benefits for their viewers,"said Yvette Gordon, vice president, interactive televisionsystems, SeaChange International. "This is not a test, but a veryprogressive and creative implementation that SeaChange is highlyqualified and honored to be part of." SeaChange's VOD Leadership In addition to GDCATV, SeaChange is supporting numerous otherVOD installations. Time Warner is currently using the SeaChangeITV System in Austin, Texas; Telewest has deployed it in itsLondon franchise; and Rogers Cable is deploying it in Canada.Additionally, a number of other cable operators have begundeployments or final preparations toward true VOD services, whichare expected to be announced later. The SeaChange ITV System is a standards-based platform fromwhich cable television operators can deploy various revenue-generating interactive services including video-on-demand,interactive advertising, shopping, banking and more. ComprisingSeaChange's patented MediaCluster video server architecture andcontrol software, the ITV System automates the entire headendoperation and scales easily to ensure uninterrupted delivery ofinteractive services to cable subscribers. For turnkey support ofthe interactive television opportunity, SeaChange's licensingexperts provide movies and other video content through thecompany's relationships with production studios. Additionally,SeaChange's creative development team designs subscriberinterfaces for easy navigation across services. About the companies GNI is a recognized distributor and manufacturer of technologyproducts throughout the Chinese cable market. With very closecontacts in the ministries as well as the Cable Televisionmarket, and cooperation with over ten big cable TV stations incable data service, GNI knows what is needed to meet the demandsfor ITV in the Chinese cable television market. GNI hasrecognized the potential for ITV in China and they have designed,manufactured and demonstrated the set top box that will berequired for volume shipment throughout China at a price pointrequired in this marketplace. This set top box can support VODand Internet browsers. GNI has multiple offices in China withtheir headquarters in Guangzhou and Beijing(www.gni.com.cn). Serving approximately 23,000 television channels for broadcastand cable television companies worldwide, SeaChangeInternational, Inc. ( http://www.schange.com ) is the leadingprovider of MPEG-2 digital video systems. SeaChange's products,incorporating the Company's patented software and hardwaretechnologies, automate the management and distribution of videostreams including advertisements, movies, news updates and otherbroadcast- quality video programming requiring precise execution.Founded in 1993, SeaChange is headquartered in Maynard,Massachusetts. MediaCluster is a registered trademark of SeaChangeInternational, Inc. All rights reserved. ots Original TextService: SeaChange International Internet:http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: John Coulbourn of SeaChangeInternational (USA) 978-897-0100, ext. 3098, johnc@schange.comWeb site: http://www.gni.com.cn
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