CanalDigitaal Delivers World's First Wireless Decoder System

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CanalDigitaal, Airgo Networks and Caton Overseas today announced that CanalDigitaal, The Netherlands' sole commercial direct broadcast satellite provider, will offer its customers the Caton V2O Wireless Home Media Network, the world's first satellite wireless STB system capable of whole-home video streaming. The V2O Wireless Home Media Network incorporates Airgo's TrueMIMO(R) Media technology within a master media server with PVR and up to two slave boxes to receive live and recorded content anywhere in a household.

"This is the start of a global home networking revolution for service providers and their customers," said Beau Beck, vice president of business development for Airgo Networks. "Not only is a Wi-Fi-enabled STB an attractive value proposition to consumers -- enabling content to be used more conveniently -- but it lays the groundwork for service providers to provide more and better features. Wireless deployment within the home also eliminates the prohibitive cost of cabling which opens up great economic opportunity for service providers."

Kees Farber, COO, CanalDigitaal agrees, adding, "Previously when we considered what it would take to increase service deployment to our customers, the costs were too prohibitive. There was no way to make a business model work when technicians were needed to pull wire throughout a home including spending the time necessary for complex multiple TV set and appliance service installations. The wire-free Airgo-enabled Caton system completely removes those costs and provides a significant business opportunity for us."

Caton's V2O Wireless Home Media Network, the world's first wireless STB capable of whole-home video streaming, is being demonstrated at IBC2006. "The V2O is the only market leading wireless solution out there that is capable of distributing broadcast quality multi-channel video throughout a subscriber's household," said Mr. Farber. Integrated with Airgo's True MIMO chipset is Caton's proprietary RapidMedia protocol. It is a highly efficient video streaming protocol with smart flow control, error correction and network storage technology, that is able to deliver independent live channels and PVR content throughout a 4-story residence with concrete walls in broadcast quality.

The Caton V2O will provide CanalDigitaal customers with an easy solution for digital satellite television on all television sets at home. There is no need for additional wiring to enjoy all of digital television's features on all television sets. The V2O's wireless decoder delivers the superior television signal of CanalDigitaal throughout a home up to four stories high, and is equipped with a hard disk recorder (PVR), full electronic programming guide (EPG) and an intuitive user interface. The recorded content on the hard disk recorder can be accessed on any connected television set in the house. CanalDigitaal customers can now decide what they want to watch, at what time they want to watch it and on which television set they want to watch it.

The V2O Wireless Home Media Network will be available in the fourth quarter of 2006 for a selected group of CanalDigitaal customers. The cost of owning a V2O Wireless Home Media Network will be lower than currently available PVR solutions in the market. Customers will save on the initial hardware purchase and installation. More importantly customers will save every month on their subscription fees as the V2O Wireless Home Media Network works with a single smartcard and a single subscription for viewing all subscribed channels on up to three televisions. Kees Farber, COO, CanalDigitaal concludes: "The V2O Wireless Home Media Network stands for everything that's right about digital satellite television: It delivers the best television signal on any location in or outside your home, giving you the benefit of modern technologies like an Electronic Programming Guide and PVR hard disk recording at a much lower cost than comparable cable-TV offerings."