Amino and SES AMERICOM announced a multi-year set top box agreement to support IP-PRIME, an innovative, centralized IPTV distribution service serving telephone companies across America today.

As part of the agreement, Amino will provide its cutting-edge AmiNET130 set top box, a fully flexible standard and high definition, MPEG-2/4 AVC/H.264 capable device, to enable SES AMERICOM's end-to-end delivery of its IP-PRIME IPTV service to consumer homes throughout the U.S. Rural telephone companies in three cities are already in advanced trials of IP-PRIME, which enables telcos and broadband service providers to greatly cut deployment costs and accelerate time to market.

"Amino IPTV set top boxes are proven and tested around the world and provide a powerful choice for service providers tapping the open, turnkey IP-PRIME content distribution platform to effectively and affordably offer a compelling lineup of world class television," said Alan Young, chief technology officer for SES AMERICOM. "The Amino devices are the first of several set top boxes to be selected for IP-PRIME, which is a truly open delivery solution designed to eliminate barriers to entry and drive competition in the world of IP television."

The AmiNET130, like all set top boxes in the AmiNET series, offers highly flexible support for new broadcast technology as well as proven pre-integration and interoperability with the major providers of other elements of the IPTV value chain – middleware, content security, encoders and browsers. The AmiNET130 was first introduced in April of this year at NAB 2006.

"SES AMERICOM is expanding the options for telcos to access content and deploy attractive IPTV services as part of a triple-play strategy of voice calls, broadband internet and digital television on-demand," noted Roy Kirsopp, VP and General Manager of Amino. "The ability to send IP-based video over satellite to dedicated hubs around the world, while cutting the initial investment requirements of telcos to access such content, can only have a positive impact upon the industry as a whole. Amino is committed to making IPTV deployments as painless as possible and IP-PRIME takes us another step close to our goal of IPTV access for all."