Tier 1 Chinese Cable Operator Launches On-Demand TV Services With Espial
MediaBase

Chongqing Cable TV Network Plans Roll-out to 4.2M Subscribers

OTTAWA , Oct. 6 /CNW Telbec/ - Espial(R) (http://www.espial.com/) (TSX: ESP) a leading provider of digital TV software and solutions, announced that Chongqing Cable TV Network has selected Espial MediaBase (http://www.espial.com/products/media_base/) to power their on-demand services. Chongqing Cable TV Network (http://www.jl96633.com/site/NumberTV.aspx) is located in the southwest of China and provides analog and digital TV services to 4.2 million subscribers. With this launch, they establish themselves as one of the most innovative cable operators in the world. Using Espial MediaBase, they can now offer Video-On-Demand (VOD), TV On-Demand (TVOD), Network PVR (NPVR) and Timeshift-TV (TSTV) services. With this line-up of on-demand services now launched, Chongqing Cable TV Network will begin converting their entire subscriber base to digital TV services over the next few years.

During their VOD system selection process, Chongqing Cable TV Network was impressed with the capabilities of Espial MediaBase. Espial MediaBase is tightly integrated with the Business Management Solution for Cable Operators from Huawei, their preferred system integrator. They were able to overcome backbone network bandwidth constraints with its powerful multi-tiered, multicast content distribution networking and server clustering features. The ability to fine-tune their VOD hardware and software configurations to each of their service regions was an advantage over suppliers who provide a limited set of hardware and licensing configurations. They were also able to differentiate their user experience with a full range of on-demand services and features like instant playback on time-shift TV services. Overall, they were also able to achieve a low overall cost of ownership with all of these features allowing them reliably, cost-effectively and efficiently distribute content and provide on-demand TV services to users in several cities including Yiran, Baligongshe, Tianlong and Hongxing.

"We selected Espial MediaBase for its great track record delivering a superior VOD system to IPTV and cable operators across the world. It offers excellent cost to performance; ease of installation and operations; a rich feature set including NPVR, TVOD, TSTV and VOD; and, is tightly integrated with and locally supported by Huawei, our preferred integrator. Using Espial MediaBase we can attract new subscribers today and differentiate against our competition for the future," said Mr. X. F. Lee , executive from Chongqing Cable. "We're pleased to have a highly reliable and scalable product we can use to expand our services into the future."

"Chongqinq Cable TV Network's selection of Espial MediaBase was based on its high performance, excellent features and broad set of on-demand services. As well, by using commerical-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, Espial was able to tailor the server and storage exactly to their requirements for each service region. These are all essential capabilities to meet China's digital TV market requirements," said James Chou , Espial, Country Manager, Great China and Director of Sales, Asia. "It is a privilege for Espial to work with Chongqing Cable TV Network to deliver a leading digital TV service to their consumers."

ABOUT CHONGQING CABLE NETWORK

Chongqing Cable Network, located in the center of Chongqing city, is the only cable operator appointed by Chongqing government and SARFT to deploy next generation Cable TV services to for its 4.2 million digital subscribers. With its innovation and intelligence, Chongqing Cable Network is the first to deploy LiveTV, VOD, TVOD, nPVR, TSTV and other value-added services in Chongqing city.

About Espial MediaBase

Espial MediaBase (formerly branded as Kasenna MediaBase XMP) is an intelligent content delivery platform powering VOD, Timeshift TV, Network PVR and other lucrative services in the cable, telecommunications, enterprise and hospitality industries. It is a robust, highly-scalable software system for managing, distributing and delivering video on-demand content for IPTV, hybrid IP and other video services. Using off-the-shelf servers, it is easily customized to support small to very large deployments. Combining multi-tiered networking, intelligent content delivery and wide ecosystem support, it ensures operators can deliver and maintain their VOD projects on-time and on-budget.

About Espial (www.espial.com)

Espial provides intelligent and open TV software to service providers in the cable, telecommunications and hospitality industries. Its middleware, video-on-demand and browser solutions provide superior service delivery, advanced service innovation tools and the ability to serve a wide range of market segments - including over-the-top, IPTV, hybrid IP, multi-dwelling unit and enterprise. With over 7 million licenses of its patented software technology in use, Espial is a leading supplier of TV software. Espial is headquartered in Ottawa , Canada . For more information please call +1.613.230.4770 or visit www.espial.com.

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For further information: Media Contact: Espial, Kirk Edwardson, Director of Marketing, [phone] x 1145