LAS VEGAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ericsson and Inspur, a leading cloud computing and big data service provider, have forged a multi-year strategic partnership to deliver innovative TV services at web speed to China, the largest pay TV market in the world.
Ericsson and Inspur will collaborate to develop a best-of-breed, cloud-enabled TV platform for operators in the burgeoning Chinese market using Ericsson's award-winning end-to-end MediaFirst solution suite.
Shandong Cable Network, the largest operator in the Asia Pacific region and one of the largest in the world, will be the first to deploy the new TV platform in China. The new service will deliver live and on-demand TV content to 20 million subscribers in 17 cities across the Shandong Province.
Elisabetta Romano, Vice President and Head of Media Solutions, Ericsson, says: "Now, more than ever, consumers want and expect TV on their terms. A personalized, multi-screen offering is considered table-stakes for operators who want to succeed in a marketplace like China, which is home to 245 million subscribers. Together with Inspur, we see a huge opportunity to help operators to unlock this fiercely competitive market, maximize the value of their networks and transform their businesses by providing a relevant, next-generation viewing experience in the fastest way. The agreement with Shandong Cable Network further strengthens our position as leading innovators in TV and media and trusted partners in China."
Cui Wei, Vice President of Inspur, says: "Ericsson is a long-established and trusted partner of Inspur. Ericsson's global scale and expertise, and award-winning MediaFirst solution suite is a great fit for our extensive portfolio, capabilities, and local know-how. Our aim is to serve the Chinese market and empower operators by offering a transformative multi-screen TV solution that offers flexibility, scalability and agility to adapt to consumers' changing needs; advanced analytics tools to increase revenue opportunities and reduce churn; and a world-class delivery and service model that enhances service velocity."
Huang Ping, CTO, Shandong Cable Network says: "Our customers have access to an unprecedented amount of choice and content through their mobile devices. The increasing demand for round-the-clock, personalized video services that are easy to discover, engage with and enjoy is at an all-time high. We needed an intelligent, market relevant solution that can enable web speed transformation and cutting-edge innovations and help us to stay ahead of the curve in China's dynamic TV market. Ericsson and Inspur meet these needs and will provide us with a world-class TV platform to deliver the next-generation TV experiences that our subscribers want and deserve."
As part of the agreement, Inspur will integrate Ericsson's end-to-end MediaFirst solution suite within its media portfolio. It will deploy Ericsson MediaFirst TV Platform on Inspur's advanced set top box and home gateway solution, and Ericsson MediaFirst Video Storage and Processing Platform (VSPP) on Inspur's market leading hardware solution. This will enable Inspur and Ericsson to deliver cost-effective, high performance solutions to customers that leverages both companies' best-of-breed software and hardware. Ericsson and Inspur also intend to roll out additional TV and media solutions to operators across China in the future.
Ericsson MediaFirst TV Platform is a software-defined, next-generation, cloud-based TV platform that provides a converged multiscreen experience including Pay TV in-home, TV Everywhere and OTT services. It embraces all content sources and delivery networks. Underpinned by Ericsson's DevOps approach, the platform offers flexibility, scalability and agility to adapt to consumers' constantly evolving behaviors and needs.
