By Jeff Baumgartner
© CED Magazine (USA)
SeaChange International is powering what it calls the first IP-based on-demand television service in India.
India Online (IOL) Broadband has launched the service to more than 250,000 subs in Mumbai using SeaChange’s set of VOD software and servers and the vendor’s IPTV set-top middleware. IOL Broadband is delivering services – including on-demand access to Bollywood and Hollywood fare – over the networks of government-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
SeaChange said IOL Broadband is its latest partner to use H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video coding, which is about twice as bandwidth efficient as MPEG-2.
With the deployment, SeaChange has secured its first foothold in a market expected to see big growth by the end of the decade. According to a forecast by Media Partners Asia, India will have more than 100 million pay TV households by 2010.
“Growth here is rapid and is fueled by new consumer options, including IPTV,” said Media Partners Asia Executive Director Vivek Couto, in a release.