SaskTel will commercially deploy xVu, Mariner's revolutionary IPTV Service Assurance platform. xVu will be deployed across SaskTel's 70,000+ Max Entertainment Services (IPTV) customers to provide continuous monitoring and real time feedback of customer's Quality of Experience. The platform will allow SaskTel to proactively manage its IPTV service quality, and to identify and resolve issues often before the customer even realizes there is a problem. xVu monitors QoE of IPTV services during installation, supporting a 'right first time' approach. Post-installation, xVu enables network and customer support personnel to proactively monitor IPTV service delivery and resolve issues, the majority of time before a call has been received from any customers.

SaskTel first launched Max Entertainment Services in 2002, as one of North America's first IPTV services to combine television, high speed internet access and the ability to surf the Web on the TV, all for one low price. Subsequently, SaskTel has introduced video on demand services, DTVR functionality, and recently became the first provider in North America to commercially deploy HDTV as part of an IPTV offering.

By taking a unique "customer-centric" approach to IP Video service assurance, Mariner's xVu eclipses traditional "network-centric" quality of service practices because the solution captures and correlates QoE indicators from across the ecosystem, including in-home performance. As a result, xVu can deliver timely and meaningful visibility into service performance from the viewer's standpoint on a continuous and real-time basis, reducing the high operational costs inherent in the current reactive servicing model, and reducing churn associated with service quality experience.