Bulgaria’s Unicoms Services launches hosted OTT platform for pay-TV operators deploying technology provided by Conax and Appear TV

• Unicoms Services launches end-to-end, hosted OTT service for pay-TV operators tapping turn-key OTT streaming platform Conax GO Live and Appear TV processing technology supporting Android and iOS devices

OSLO, 27-Mar-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — Conax, part of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD:S), and a leader in content and service protection for pay-TV and digital entertainment services worldwide, and Appear TV, a leading global provider of next-generation video processing platforms, today announced that Bulgaria’s Unicoms Services has deployed its UnyQTV hosted OTT platform for pay-TV operators deploying advanced technology provided by Conax and Appear TV.

A Conax customer since 2010, the new platform supports Unicoms services expansion into the OTT arena, supported by award-winning, feature-rich OTT streaming platform Conax GO Live, pre-integrated with Appear TV’s premium content processing platform. Unicoms Services is already hosting over 50 operators from the Balkans region with Conax Contego conditional access and is the first professional white label OTT solution available in Bulgaria.

The UnyQTV platform enables two business models: (i) a white label technical solution that allows for simple rebranding leveraging the operator’s existing assets and (ii) the UnyQTV “Revenue Share” model. The latter provides a complete pay-TV operator ecosystem for low-risk entry to OTT services, significantly reducing operating cost and investment for quickly launching Live-TV channels on smartphones and tablets, including support for catch-up TV. The Conax GO Live OTT platform provides a user-friendly app and exceptionally fast deployment. The Unicoms Services hosted solution offers mid to smaller DVB-C, DTH and IPTV operators a Live-TV offering enabling subscribers access to over 60 of the most popular Bulgarian and foreign channels.

On March 30th, at the TV Connect Conference in London, Nastya Popova, Executive Director, Unicoms Trading, and Einar Vågmo, Director Product Management Multiscreen at Conax will share a comprehensive customer case study and valuable insights on “Speeding Up Time-to-Market with Pre-Integrated OTT Solutions” during the Morning Plenary session (11am).

-“The TV screen is no longer just the traditional TV set,” confirms Nastya Popova, Executive Director, Unicoms Trading. Smart devices have become a part of daily life, with consumers demanding new applications of traditional TV services. Tapping the agility of the Conax and Appear TV technology, the new UnyQTV cloud OTT platform enables small and mid-size operators to compete with and best offerings on the market, providing secure, rapid deployment of value-added services – at an affordable price. Operators can tap an OPEX based model to deploy highly desirable OTT content without initial upfront hardware investments and expertise or offering the UnyQTV application’s “revenue share” model.”

-Daniel Johansson, EVP Global Sales & Marketing, Conax, “In a market eager to access live content on a variety of devices, Conax and Appear TV are helping Unicoms Services provide their service operators with a viable, user-friendly over-the-top content distribution service they can earn money on. The hosted platform enables operators to rapidly deploy OTT services and stream content securely. By making it easy for viewers to consume desired content legally and at an affordable price also reduces competition from illegal streaming services.”

“OTT not only offers the most flexible way of delivering content to any device, but does so via a range of new business models, offering significant potential for monetization. The partnership between Conax and Appear TV delivers complete, highly functional and expandable solutions that make OTT deployment easy by design, since every component is pre-tested and pre-integrated – that transforms OTT delivery into a simple, quick time to market option.   Rather than battle with technology, this frees customers to concentrate on delivering high quality, highly innovative new services such as the UnyQTV Cloud OTT platform”, says Carl Walter Holst, CEO, Appear TV.

About UNICOMS Trading Ltd.
Founded in 1992, UNICOMS TRADING is a trusted and reliable partner and system integrator for major Telecom, Cable TV, Satellite TV and Internet companies in Bulgaria and Balkan region for 25 years. Headquartered in Sofia, the company is specialized in providing all kind of active and passive equipment for building broadband communication systems, HFC, LAN/MAN, FTTH and PON networks, headend equipment, design, installation, hosting and other services. UNICOMS SERVICES is 100% subsidiary company of Unicoms Trading LTD operating as a service provider, hosting solutions provider and OTT/IPTV operator; UnyQTV is the brand name of the service provided by Unicoms Services for streaming live TV to iOS and Android devices in an OTT environment.

About Conax
A part of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD:S), Conax is a leading global specialist in service protection for digital TV and entertainment services via broadcast, broadband and connected devices. Based on the Conax Contego security back-end, Conax’ future-ready technology offers modular, fast-time-to-market solutions that enable easy entry into a world of secure multiscreen, multi-DRM content delivery and secures rights for premium content delivery to a range of devices over new hybrid network combinations. Conax spotlight technology includes the Contego-as-a-Service cloud-based platform, award-winning “Conax GO Live” live TV streaming, benchmark multi DRM protection and the Conax Connected Access connected IPTV security client combining Conditional Access and DRM security in a single client. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, ISO 9001 & 27001 certified Conax technology enables secure content revenues for 425 operators in 85 countries globally. For more information, please visit www.conax.com  and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to join the conversation.

About Appear TV
Appear TV is based in Oslo, Norway, and has recently opened an additional office in Bangkok, Thailand. The company produces world-class equipment that enables operators to deliver professional broadcast services to millions of users around the globe. The company is dedicated to developing reliable, revenue-generating and innovative solutions for operators looking to deliver real-time content to the home. Appear TV headends are designed for modularity, high density, and flexibility. www.appeartv.com

SOURCE: KUDELSKI SA

Conax media contact
Leslie Johnsen
Head of Public Relations & Communications
Mob: +47 41 45 80 43
leslie.johnsen@conax.com

Appear TV contact:
Nicolay Schweigaard
Communications Manager
nicolay.schweigaard@appeartv.com 

Appear TV PR contact:
Lisa Belli
D. Pagan Communications, Inc.
lisab@dpagan.com