Amino confirmed that Cavalier Telephone, a US CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) with 180,000 residential subscribers has chosen Amino's AmiNET124 set-top box as part of its IPTV (IP Television) services development. The AmiNET124 is Amino’s first single-chip IP set-top box which supports the new MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video compression standard. The contract is part of a substantial multi-year agreement and deployment will commence in October 2005. Further details of the contract, including value and quantities, have not been disclosed.

"Cavalier has a very strong reputation for advanced telephone and broadband Internet services and we have made substantial capital investments to ensure our service infrastructure is best of class," noted Andy Lobred, VP of Marketing and Product Development. "As we continue to invest in our network to explore entry into the IPTV sector, we feel that Amino’s AmiNET124 best supports the MPEG-4 compression codec. Amino’s state of interoperability will best position Cavalier for a quick and seamless integration with our other partners for IPTV."

Unlike other vendors, the proprietary software stack running on the AmiNET124 allows all signal processing to take place on a single chip, thus improving performance of the product and reducing overall bill of materials (BOM). Amino also works closely with all major providers of the other elements of the IPTV system to ensure maximum compatibility with the widest range of middleware, conditional access, system integration and head-end products as possible. This broad interoperability allows more rapid time to market for IPTV service roll-outs and reassurance for Telco customers.

Roy Kirsopp, CEO, Amino Communications LLC commented, "MPEG-4 offers a huge step forward for Telcos, but the availability of suitable STBs has been the biggest barrier against deployment. The wait is now over with the launch of our AmiNET124 box in June 2005 and it is already proving extremely popular with service operators."

The AmiNET124, based on Amino's compact, award-winning styling, is easily installed by the subscriber and features a field-upgradeable software platform to support future technology enhancements without significant additional cost to the IPTV service provider. Amino’s technology will be demonstrated at IBC2005, Amsterdam, from 9 to 13 September, stand #4.299.

The AmiNET124 is compatible with the ReadyLinks' SmartFoot ^TM Ethernet bridge, which uses existing residential coax or telephone wiring to reduce rewiring costs, and enables the easy installation of multiple set-top boxes. For more information visit www.ready-links.com