OTRUM and Telenor Satellite Broadcasting Sign Contract for Satellite Broadband

OTRUM and Telenor Satellite Broadcasting Sign Contract for Satellite Broadband

FORNEBU, Norway, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OTRUM, Europe's leading provider of interactive TV solutions to hotels, and satellite operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting have signed a contract for the use of two-way satellite broadband. OTRUM will use the DVB-RCS service mainly to deliver films to hotels, but also to establish two-way communication with their installed systems within hotels.

With Telenor's DVB-RCS service, OTRUM will have the possibility to deliver film content to its hotel customers via satellite, resulting in a cost-effective and reliable solution.

"Whilst looking for an additional method for delivering film content to our customers, it was clear that satellite distribution would offer benefits in several areas," says Mr. Fredd Causevic, President & CEO of OTRUM. "Logistically, delivering film content from a central source is very practical -- saving both time and money. At the same time this will improve our service to hotels, with overnight film updates and more flexibility in the film selection. Via two-way communications we can also monitor and update the software installed at individual hotels, giving these online hotels improved reliability and remote service".

The satellite broadband market is growing and the introduction of new and improved technology will accelerate this development. The DVB-RCS product enables Telenor to meet the market demand for more low cost broadband satellite services. "OTRUM's requirement for two-way satellite communication was a bit unusual for satellite broadband, but using this flexible technology allowed us to match the requirement," says Cato Halsaa, Managing Director of Telenor Satellite Broadcasting. "OTRUM needed a cost effective solution to distribute large content files to many users spread all over Europe. Covering multiple sites over large geographical areas is what satellite does best and with our new DVB-RCS service we have the technology available to reach into more market segments than TV and radio broadcasting".

About the Telenor DVB-RCS Service:

DVB-RCS (Digital Video Broadcast -- Return Channel via Satellite) is an open standard for two-way communication over satellite. DVB-RCS networks allows for cost-efficient broadband satellite transmit and receive links, and supports all types of broadband services running on the Internet.

The Telenor DVB-RCS Service is a two-way satellite network based on the DVB-RCS standard. It is used by service providers to offer broadband access and multimedia services, content distribution and rural telephony and Internet services. The DVB-RCS standard is able to exploit available satellite capacity extremely efficiently, and can thus offer the customer bandwidth at a lower cost. The system provides efficient throughput, through TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) acceleration, bandwidth on demand and guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) techniques. The low-cost terminals work with VSAT size antennas typically with a 0,9 meter diameter, which thus fit on the rooftops and walls of buildings.

High bandwidth efficiency and low terminal cost translate into low cost of entry for the end user and allows the operator the flexibility to offer services along the entire spectrum from the typical low rate VSAT to true multi-megabit enterprise broadband.

For more information, please contact:

OTRUM ASA Fredd Causevic, President and CEO Tel: +47 90 79 99 08 Fax: +47 23 89 72 84 Email: fredd.causevic@otrum.com

Telenor Satellite Broadcasting Cato Halsaa, Managing Director Tel: +47 900 47 007

ABOUT OTRUM

OTRUM is the leading provider of interactive TV solutions and content to the hospitality industry in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with more than 400,000 rooms installed. The company develops and supplies total solutions, consisting of hardware, software, TV channels and films. OTRUM's interactive solutions provide hotel guests with Internet access, pay TV and interactive games, while the hotel can optimise operational efficiency.

Established 1985, OTRUM is headquartered in Norway, with sales companies in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Italy, and distributors in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company has been listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange since 1998 (Ticker - OTR). The largest owner is Telenor.

For further information, please visit: http://www.otrum.com/ .

ABOUT TELENOR SATELLITE BROADCASTING

Telenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc) is the leading satellite operator in the Nordic region, owning and operating two Thor satellites at 1 degree West and Ku Band capacity on Intelsat 10-02 also at 1 degree West. This, together with ground segment facilities in Norway, UK, Finland, Denmark and Sweden constitute the digital TV platform that distributes 125 television and 64 radio channels to more than 2.5 million HH in the Nordic region via DTH, CATV and SMATV.

Source: Telenor

CONTACT: Fredd Causevic of OTRUM ASA for Telenor, President and CEO, +47-90-79-99-08, +47-23-89-72-84 (f), fredd.causevic@otrum.com; Cato Halsaa of Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, Managing Director, +47-900-47-007

Web site: http://www.telenor.com/ http://www.otrum.com/

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