MONTREAL - January 3, 2001 - Consumers in Atlantic Canada seeking broadband entertainment solutions for their homes received welcome news today when their own advanced telecommunications provider, Aliant Telecom, chose Motorola's (NYSE:MOT) Streamaster 5000 advanced set-top box to deliver a wide range of broadband interactive television services. Aliant plans an aggressive market expansion of its comprehensive Advanced Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)-based VibeVision suite of services, launched in January 2000, which offers digital-quality television, Interactive program guide, "infotainment" services, web browsing and email.
This agreement marks the commercial deployment of Motorola's Streamaster 5000 and one of the first multi-functional DSL-based set-top solutions available in the North American market. It is also the first use of the Streamaster 5000 in a service such as VibeVision, which utilizes the iMagicTV DTV Manager interactive software and Cisco's Video Networking System to deliver multi-channel television and interactive media services. Streamaster 5000 gains its intelligence and innovative services, like the ability to quickly offer new services and features through remote software upgrades, through DigitalDNA technology. Streamaster 5000 is developed within Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector.
"Aliant is focused on strategic expansion, and Motorola's Streamaster 5000 will help us deliver a full package of interactive television services to our customers," stated Mike MacNeil, director, Consumer Broadband Services, Aliant. "Streamaster 5000 is the 'all-in-one' solution that our customers are demanding, and we look forward to making these services available soon."
Located in Aliant's head-end, Cisco's VN 5900 Video Networking System aggregates a variety of video and audio signals, performs video processing as required such as demodulating, descrambling and demultiplexing and adapts the resulting signals to Aliant's network. These signals are distributed using iMagicTV's DTV Manager software to subscribers via a DSLAM (digital subscriber line access multiplexer), where the signals are received in the home by Streamaster 5000 and displayed on the customer's television.
Consumers all over the world are demanding the convergence of communications, data and entertainment, and Motorola's Streamaster 5000 is aimed at revolutionizing these services with its open, extensible multimedia architecture. The architecture combines the key functions of a broadband router to support network computing while performing the functions of a digital home theater platform. The Streamaster platform is well-designed to support future applications and services due through its remotely-upgradeable software.
"Aliant's selection of our Streamaster 5000 solution is a clear indication that Motorola has taken an early leadership position in providing DSL-based broadband entertainment services," said Jacqueline Beauchamp, director and general manager, Multimedia Solutions Division, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector. "As a recognized leader in the broadband market, Motorola offers a complete broadband strategy for bringing interactive television services to the home. Motorola, along with our alliance partners that provide content and services, looks forward to helping our customers fulfill the promise of broadband entertainment services for consumers."
Streamaster 5000 makes possible a wide and powerful range of consumer broadband multimedia services such as digital-quality broadcast television, high-speed Web access, 3-D games, video and music-on-demand, karaoke and on-line shopping. The Streamaster platform is enhanced by VM Labs' NUON technology, which incorporates a completely programmable media processor. NUON technology enables many of Streamaster 5000's capabilities, such as 2D/3D games graphics, General MIDI music, Dolby Digital audio, Spatializer, MPEG1/2 with video trick modes and MP3 playback. Motorola and VM Labs have a multi-year alliance, which includes games development and content publishing assistance.
About Aliant Telecom
Aliant Telecom is part of the Aliant group of advanced technology companies, Aliant Inc. Aliant Inc. (TSE:AIT -news) and its staff of over 10,000 professionals deliver full service, integrated solutions through its core lines of business: wireline and wireless telecommunications, information technology, remote communications services, and Internet-based business solutions. From its base in Canada, Aliant serves North American and international customers. For more information, visit Aliant at www.aliant.ca.
About iMagicTV
iMagicTV (Nasdaq:IMTV and TSE:IMT) provides software products and related services that enable telephone companies and other service providers to deliver multi-channel digital television and interactive media services to their subscribers over a broadband network infrastructure. iMagicTV's software solutions can be deployed over high-speed broadband networks including ADSL, VDSL and Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technologies.
Incorporated in 1997, iMagicTV maintains its global headquarters in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, its U.S. headquarters in Raleigh (North Carolina) and its European headquarters in Cambridge (United Kingdom). iMagicTV also has sales offices in Denver (Colorado), Atlanta (Georgia) and McLean (Virginia). For more information on iMagicTV and its solution, visit www.imagictv.com.
