Open IPTV Forum and HbbTV Association Merge their Activities

Open IPTV Forum and HbbTV Association Merge their Activities


OTTAWA, June 17, 2014 /CNW/ - The members of the Open IPTV Forum and the
HbbTV Association are pleased to announce that they have merged their
future activities into a single organization within the legal structure
of the HbbTV Association. This merger will be functional after June 16,
2014.



This decision is based on the recognition that the markets of OTT, HBB,
and IPTV are coming closer together, and barriers between the models
are becoming smaller. With this action, both the Open IPTV Forum and
the HbbTV Association have chosen to react proactively and in a timely
manner to these market trends.



With the recognition that there is a significant overlap between their
activities and membership, as well as complementary work which could
enhance both, the members of the Open IPTV Forum and the HbbTV
Association have approved the plan to integrate OIPF's future
activities into the HbbTV organization.



There is a strong desire to continue to build on both organizations'
strengths through a merging of their activities in order to better
serve the interests of all the stakeholders as well as the consumers in
the markets that each organization currently serves. Both
organizations' members agree that the fastest and most efficient way to
continue this partnership will be through the legal structure of the
HbbTV Association.



Nilo Mitra, president of the Open IPTV Forum, commenting on his
membership's decision, said "The single organization we have created
will ensure that the common platform based on the OIPF browser and used
by HbbTV will evolve in a compatible way to serve all three types of
service delivery models covered by both our members - over-the-top,
hybrid broadcast/broadband and IPTV."



Klaus Illgner, chairman of the HbbTV Steering Group adds: "We're looking
towards a converging future requiring us to adjust industry standards
to changing market demands. By merging with the Open IPTV Forum, we're
continuing to take steps to remain at the forefront of trends in the TV
industry." He continues: "We are excited by this opportunity and
welcome the new members from OIPF who will work with us to define the
next wave of TV standards. The OIPF has been an industry leader in
defining the IPTV evolution and we are excited to harness their
expertise, insights and specifications into future HbbTV initiatives."


About Open IPTV Forum (www.oipf.tv)


The Open IPTV Forum enables and accelerates creation of a mass market
for IPTV by defining and publishing free-of-charge standards-based
specifications for end-end IPTV services of the future.



Founding members Ericsson, Orange, TP Vision, Samsung, Sony Corporation
and Telecom Italia, were joined by other leading industry stakeholders
including:



Abox42, Accenture Global Services Limited, Alcatel-Lucent, Arris,
BluFocus, BBC, Broadpeak, DCC Labs, Deutsche Telekom, Digitsoft.tv,
Digital TV Labs, Dolby, DotScreen, DTG Testing Limited, DTS, Espial,
Fraunhofer, Huawei, Humax, IRT, Mstar Semiconductor, Nagra, Opera
Software, PCCW, Penki Kontinentai, Perpetual Solutions, Quiptel,
Rogers, Rovi, Streamhub, Testronics, The Weather Network, 3 Screen
Solutions, TNO, Toshiba, UXP Systems, Verimatrix and Zenterio.



Members of the Open IPTV Forum have worked on the development of open
specifications because they recognize that combining the expertise of
all parties involved will help to streamline and accelerate deployments
of IPTV technologies. Their aim is to make the next generation of IPTV
a mass-market service and to maximize the benefits of IPTV and
Connected TVs for consumers as well as the industry.



As a collaborative industry body the OIPF has incorporated existing
standards wherever possible - OIPF specifications have also been
adopted by complementary industry groups including the HbbTV
Association.



Questions about the OIPF may be directed to contact@oipf.tv

About HbbTV Association (www.hbbtv.org)


Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (or "HbbTV") is a major global initiative
aimed at harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of
entertainment services to the end consumer through connected TVs and
set top boxes. The HbbTV specification was developed by industry
leaders to effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of
available content targeted at today's end consumer. It is based on
elements of existing specifications including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum),
CEA, DVB, MPEG-DASH and W3C.


SOURCE ESPIAL GROUP

ESPIAL GROUP

CONTACT: HbbTV Association Contacts: 
Kirk Edwardson and Régis Saint Girons
Co-Chairs, HbbTV Marketing Group
Email: press@hbbtv.org


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