Ericsson Joins 20th Century Fox’s Innovation Lab

Ericsson will be a global partner in 20th Century Fox’s Innovation Lab, an initiative dedicated to raising and accelerating the bar for next generation content and devices.

The popularity of video content amongst consumers across the world has never been greater; the Ericsson November 2015 Mobility report states that by 2021, video will account for 70 percent of all traffic on mobile networks. Ericsson will work with the Fox Innovation Lab on innovations designed to help the media industry meet head-on the demands of today’s exacting audiences.

The Fox Innovation Lab brings together 20th Century Fox and technology companies to work towards enhancing the viewing experience of content on all the consumer’s devices, including a look forward at the potential of the connected car and home. Part of the Fox Innovation Lab’s mission is to solve the challenges of delivering connected content to today’s consumers, ensuring they are provided with the best possible end experiences.

Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President, Global Research & Tech Strategy, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Managing Director, Fox Innovation Lab, said: “Ericsson is one of the most progressive and largest mobile companies in the world, making them the perfect partner to realize the possibilities of the Fox Innovation Lab. We are constantly investigating and advancing strategies that leverage new technologies to take the movie experience beyond one screen, andEricsson‘s involvement will further our ability to deliver on this vision.”

Hanno Basse, Chief Technology Officer, Twentieth Century Fox and Managing Director, Fox Innovation Lab, added: “Together we’ll push boundaries that enable the development of cutting-edge mobile content experiences that re-define the future of entertainment. Ericsson is a great partner to help realize our commitment to innovation and drive consumer engagement to new heights.”

Ericsson and 20th Century Fox will work on a range of projects together to provide true connected content experiences. The Fox Innovation Lab will also develop solutions to allow consumers more opportunities to purchase and view video across multiple platforms.

Per Borgklint, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Support Solutions at Ericsson, commented: “It is a privilege to be chosen as a preferred TV and media solution provider involved in the Fox Innovation Lab and we look forward to jointly developing new video technologies and experiences that engage viewers in a much more compelling way. Our end goal at Ericsson is to delight the TV consumer every day. 20th Century Fox shares our commitment to making this happen, placing the consumer at the heart of the ecosystem and ensuring that their expectations are met and exceeded. Ericsson‘s deep insights into the consumer alongside our expansive solution portfolio and global transformation services are allowing us to shape the industry in this new internet era of television.”

Ericsson, Cisco Establish Agreement With Aster in Dominican Republic
Ericsson will transform Aster’s TV proposition and cable network in the Dominican Republic through the deployment of the Ericsson Mediaroom TV Platform and video compression solutions, as well as the Cisco cBR-8, the industry’s first Evolved Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP).

Aster is a challenger in the Dominican Republic’s cable TV market, focused on delivering innovative TV and internet services to its subscribers.

Ericsson will act as prime integrator to bring together its suite of media solutions, including the Mediaroom TV platform and the AVP4000 video processing encoder, with broadband access provided by the cBR-8 and Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) solutions from Cisco.

Cisco’s offerings bring full Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.1 capabilities and 10 times the speed and capacity of any existing product; the cBR-8 cost-effectively scales from today’s 1Gbps speeds to 10Gbps by eliminating the need for multiple system rewiring.

The overall solution from Ericsson significantly enhances the next phase of TV experiences and supports seamless delivery of video, while making it easy to migrate to IP-cable video experiences for time-shifting and other services.

Juan Ramón Gomez Diaz, owner of Aster and Telemicro group, says: “Having the world’s best technology is a key element of our group success. As we revamp our Aster cable TV offerings we wanted the best partners with end-to-end solutions, including technology and services expertise. The Ericsson-Cisco partnership came right on time, as we set Aster to be the leading cable operator in our market.”

Clayton Cruz, Vice President Region Latin America and Caribbean, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson‘s media expertise and services strength is unparalleled in the industry. The addition of our recently announced partnership with Cisco, which includes its converged cable access platform, is one example of how our partnership is producing tangible benefits for our customers.”

Gustavo Sorgente, Managing Director of Sales, Central America, North South America and the Caribbean, Cisco, says: “With the pace the service provider market is moving, the most successful companies will be those who build the right strategic partnerships to accelerate innovation, growth and customer value. Today’s announcement demonstrates the impact the Cisco-Ericsson partnership can have on service providers seeking to add value to their customers while increasing revenue streams and maintaining costs.”

Ericsson and Cisco – two industry leaders in the development and delivery of networking, mobility, and cloud – formed a global business and technology partnership in November 2015 to create the networks of the future. The partnership offers customers the best of both companies: routing, data center, networking, cloud, mobility, management and control, and global services capabilities. The next-generation strategic partnership will drive growth, accelerate innovation, and speed digital transformation demanded by customers across industries. Please note that the partnership is not yet effective in Brazil, where it is subject to regulatory review and approval.