IMAKE and Alticast signed a partnership agreement to provide and market open standards-based, end-to-end solutions for providers of Video On Demand (VOD) and Interactive Television (iTV) services. The partnership brings together IMAKE, a major provider of solutions and services that enable the seamless delivery and management of On Demand broadband services, and Alticast, a leading provider of open-standards iTV solutions that allow service providers to create, manage, deliver and monitor iTV applications to OCAP (OpenCable Application Platform) and MHP (multimedia home platform) standards.

IMAKE Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Steven W. Sweeney said, "By partnering with Alticast, IMAKE is effectively extending its reach into the set-top box for the first time to offer a complete solution from the headend to the customer premises. IMAKE and Alticast offer highly complementary services and solutions, and this partnership leverages the strength of our products, our development and deployment experience, and our collective strength across global markets."

Alticast President, Eunsang Yun, Ph.D., said, "This partnership emphasizes the synergy between our two companies. Together, Alticast and IMAKE can provide a turn-key solution to telco and cable operators who in turn can be confident that this pre-integrated solution will save them time and money."

With the agreement, IMAKE and Alticast agree to jointly integrate and sell their products. IMAKE's OpenVision(TM) is an open standards-based software suite for cable television providers, telecommunications companies, and content providers that ensures the seamless delivery, management and billing of VOD and IPTV content. Alticast's range of middleware and products are used in the creation, delivery and reception of interactive digital television applications based on open broadcasting standards such as Digital Video Broadcasting-Multimedia Home Platform (DVB-MHP) and OCAP.

Both companies are in the unique position of being pioneers in the on demand and interactive content industries. IMAKE was the first company to bring VOD solutions to market and its field-proven software now supports over 20 million cable subscribers. Alticast was first to market with deployed OCAP and DVB-MHP products for terrestrial, cable, and satellite operators. Alticast solutions are currently deployed in China, Korea and Europe.