IPTV technology leaders BitBand and Orca Interactive and Danish system integrator DigiEyeZ A/S announced that Dansk Bredband, a Danish broadband services provider, has selected the three companies to launch IPTV services in Denmark. The services, planned for Copenhagen with later expansion across Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia, will initially include live TV channels and Video On Demand (VOD), allowing subscribers to enjoy high quality entertainment packages in the comfort of their own homes.

Dansk Bredband will implement Orca's RiGHTv^TM middleware, IPTV applications and Subscriber User Interface (SUI) SDK, coupled with BitBand's Maestro^TM Content Distribution and Management suite and Vision 280(TM) VOD servers.

In addition to offering live TV and VOD, Dansk Bredband will participate in a beta program for Orca's Home Media, a home networking solution designed to empower operators' IPTV offerings by strengthening the TV integration into the digital home. Home Media, a service offered on RiGHTv, offers the quality television viewing experience for digital media content stored on the PC from sources such as digital cameras and Web downloads, providing subscribers with the capability to view pictures and listen to music through their television.

The deployment, led by DigiEyeZ A/S, will provide subscribers with a higher level of service and viewing experience while enabling smooth distributed growth. DigiEyeZ A/S will execute the development and customization of the SUI (Subscriber User Interface) using Orca's SUI SDK that allows them to differentiate Dansk Bredband's IPTV offerings by adding applications, modifying the solution's look and feel and porting the SUI to additional set-top-boxes. By offering such vendor independency, DigiEyeZ A/S is lowering the total cost of ownership of the solution.

Orca, BitBand and DigiEyeZ A/S were chosen by Dansk Bredband based on the advanced capabilities, scalability and rich set of readily available features in the companies' combined solution, plus their expertise and proven experience in delivering IPTV services. Dansk Bredband decided on this best of breed approach to their IPTV solution to stay ahead of the innovation curve while maintaining flexibility.

"Dansk Bredband's goal is to offer our subscribers, in the short term, a differentiated, advanced digital viewing experience whilst leveraging existing network resources; in the future we will use the same solution to scale the service in terms of new applications and more subscribers," said Birger Hauge, CTO, Dansk Bredband. "Orca, BitBand and DigiEyeZ A/S presented solutions that meet our unique needs, enabling us to build upon competitive service bundling for enhanced revenue generation."

"We are proud to cooperate with Dansk Bredband and harness our technological expertise to the advanced offering presented to audiences in Denmark," said Yuval Sovinsky, executive vice president of marketing and sales, BitBand. "Dansk Bredband's decision to commercially deploy IPTV services in Denmark and Scandinavia sharpens the company's competitive edge in the fast evolving European IPTV market."

"We are excited to take part in this project and continue to provide operators with a customized solution in a short time to market via our SI-enabled solution," said Alon Laor, vice president sales and professional services, Orca Interactive. "Dansk Bredband decided to outsource the IPTV service integration, customization and management to their system integrator of choice -- DigiEyeZ A/S -- who successfully assumed project leadership."