NTT's and EXPWAY's Metadata System Deployed by Japanese IPTV Service Operator

October 2, 2006; 06:49 AM

NTT Cyber Communications Laboratory Group, a research division of NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION (NTT), Japan’s largest telecommunications operator, and EXPWAY, a leading provider of Electronic Content Guides, announced today that Plala Networks Inc., a pioneer IPTV service provider in Japan, has deployed its 4th MEDIA™ IPTV service using a technology jointly developed by NTT Cyber Labs and EXPWAY for its Electronic Program Guide (EPG).

This Metadata System is based on rich XML-based metadata format allowing enhanced description of content for easy access, navigation, and viewing of content. EXPWAY brought NTT its expertise in the management of metadata and efficient compression of EPG with BiM format. While allowing comprehensive EPG service, the system improves EPG data transmission and saves costly network bandwidth.
According to Plala Networks : “The metadata system allowed us to adopt a new graphic user interface directly using metadata instead of the conventional interface using HTML and Javascript languages. One of its merits is the greatly improved user-interface of our set-top-box. The new interfaces of our set-top-box have several original functions because the function of our set-top-box is not restricted to the specifications of the browsers. Future set-top-boxes will each have original interface designs with each advantage, and our set-top-box functions can be incorporated into digital appliances like digital TVs because our metadata format is compliant with the standard specification for Japanese digital TVs. Our metadata system can not only suit our IPTV channel service, VOD, and Karaoke services, but can also let us offer flexible sales types, such as PPV, SVOD, and packages. Moreover, the metadata system helps us make the best of our content; it has made it possible to deliver our premium football programs as VODs right after their livecast, allowing viewers to enjoy our services according to their viewing habits.”

Said Antoine Weil, CEO of Expway: “EXPWAY is very proud of the tight collaboration built with NTT over the past five years and happy to see a first concrete application being deployed in Japan over a broadband network. I believe that the jointly developed Metadata System brings the necessary richness for Plala Networks users to access the wide range of services as well as a very high performance level to reduce network overload”.

About NTT
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION, or NTT Corp., is the largest telecommunications operator in Japan. With its subsidiaries — including NTT Docomo, NTT Communications, NTT East, NTT West, and NTT Data — it provides fixed-line telecommunications (local, long-distance and international) and wireless telephony services, data communications, as well as Internet and multimedia services. NTT Cyber Communications Laboratory Group is NTT's research and development arm, dedicated to enhancing NTT's services with an emphasis on technology that supports business information sharing, including media services as well as content creation and management. For more information on NTT, go to: www.ntt.co.jp. For the details of the System go to https://www.ntt.co.jp/cclab/e/contact/ or write to [email protected]

About EXPWAY
EXPWAY is a leading provider of end-to-end content & service management solutions over mobile broadcast, mobile telecom and Broadband IP networks. EXPWAY standard-based software solutions include FastESG™, the ESG solution dedicated to Mobile TV and based on DVB-IPDC specifications for DVB-H, FastEPG™, EPG solution dedicated to IPTV and based on DVB-IPI and TV-Anytime specification, and Interactive Services such as betting, voting and advertising. FastESG™ was the first DVB-IPDC compliant solution ever deployed commercially. EXPWAY solutions interface with multiple CAS and DRM systems and are already deployed or market-tested by Telecom and Broadcast Operators in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, as well as integrated by handset, STB and TV set manufacturers worldwide. Founded in 2000, the privately-held company is headquartered in Paris, France.