OPENTV ANNOUNCE ITV SERVICE PLATFORM SUITE

OPENTV, the world's leading interactive television (iTV) and media solutions company, have announced their iTV Service Platform Suite, an integrated turnkey software solution intended to give network operators the ability to manage the operational and transactional demands of a full-featured, revenue-generating interactive TV service.
Designed to work across multiple operating systems, middleware and set-top box platforms, the iTV Service Platform Suite integrates components of a successful iTV service including communication, commerce, advertising management and customer relationships.
Alec Livingstone, Senior Vice President, Technology, OpenTVi, said: “The good news for network operators - be they cable, satellite or digital terrestrial – is that they don't have to try to build an iTV solution in bits and pieces. OpenTV's iTV Service Platform Suite is intended to provide an optimised solution that offers network operators an affordable solution to launch an iTV service quickly and efficiently.”
The iTV Service Platform Suite will be offered as a complement to OpenTV's market leading set-top box technology solution and applications offerings. As of year-end 2000, OpenTV's middleware technology solution was deployed in over 13.9 million set top boxes worldwide. Its experience with leading network operators has given OpenTV a solid understanding of the issues and opportunities around delivering a comprehensive and compelling interactive TV service.
In response to network operators' needs for ease of management and speed to market, OpenTV's iTV Service Platform Suite is intended to round out a complete offering with the necessary technology and tools involved in launching and managing a robust and revenue generating interactive TV service. (CD)