ALBtelecom taps Thomson for revamped TV platform

Albanian telco ALBtelecom has chosen Thomson Video Networks’ ViBE XT1000 Xtream transcoder to help consolidate its IPTV/OTT video platform and expand it to accommodate 240 live TV channels.

According to Thomson, the ViBE XT1000 will provide the flexibility, high density, and video quality required for the new IPTV architecture, which has been designed to make use of the advanced HEVC compression technology to deliver Ultra HD TV channels and mobile video.

The consolidation of ALBtv will enable ALBtelecom subscribers to access all of the company’s services through a single invoice and view more than 240 channels on two IPTV platforms, as well as VoD. The ViBE XT1000 works in tandem with DVB-S2 demodulators and descramblers from Astro and stream monitoring equipment from Bridge Technologies to transcode and manage IPTV content for the expanded ALBtv service.

“Thomson Video Networks has an international reputation for technical expertise in the IPTV and OTT arenas, and its transcoding technologies are driving many of today’s most advanced IPTV video services. With its ability to deliver outstanding picture quality and extremely high performance density in a single chassis, the ViBE XT1000 was the ideal choice for the expansion of ALBtv. We were also impressed with Thomson Video Networks’ flexibility and responsiveness, which enabled us to deliver this solution in only a month,” said Sokol Demiri, director of procurement and logistics division, ALBtelecom.

“As a rapidly growing service provider in Albania, ALBtelecom needed a future-proof, state-of-the-art transcoding platform with which to grow its IPTV services, support mobile users, and plan for future delivery of UHD channels,” said Eric Louvet, vice president of sales and field services worldwide, Thomson Video Networks. “It’s the perfect application for our ViBE XT1000, designed to offer the market’s best channel density and features, such as support for HEVC, that today’s most progressive telcos, OTT, and cable providers need to drive their business into the future.”