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From Satellite to Set-Top-Box Auroras Entertainment Successfully Demonstrates Fully Integrated MPEG-4 IPTV Service


Whitefish, MT - January 12, 2006 - Auroras Entertainment successfully demonstrated its fully integrated IPTV services earlier today. In front of a standing room only audience of customers and vendors, Auroras successfully broadcast a full array of MPEG-4 IPTV services from a teleport facility located in Long Island, NY into a Whitefish, MT hotel conference room. Today’s demonstration clearly confirmed that Auroras’ MPEG 4 IPTV service is ready for prime time.

Two 50” TV sets broadcast live, MPEG-4 encoded feeds from Wealth TV, NFL Network, and Oxygen, while diagrams on the wall showed, and CTO Mike Kazmier explained, the necessary steps required to successfully deploy IPTV services.

While numerous vendors have been working on individual components of MPEG-4 IPTV service, the ability of carriers or other providers to successfully combine and utilize these various components has remained a question. By integrating C-band satellite facilities, teleport service (including IRD’s, MPEG-4 encoders, DVB-S2 modulators, and uplink capabilities), middleware, MPEG-4 set-top-boxes and additional services such as VOD, Auroras made believers out of their guests , who are anxious to begin deployment and wanted to see with their own eyes the first ever fully integrated U.S. IPTV demonstration.

“To be perfectly frank, we weren’t certain that IPTV was ready for commercial deployment, explained Todd Christophersen, President of Benton Marketing in Palo, IA. “Our telephone company is a small co-op providing service in rural America and we take our responsibility to deliver top-grade services to our customers very seriously. Based on what we saw today, we think deployment of IPTV services to rural America beginning this year is a very real opportunity. We are excited about the possibilities of on-demand entertainment for our customers.”

This afternoon’s demo was a first in several ways for the United States. Utilization of the DVBS2 transmission standard has never before been commercially demonstrated in the U.S. and commercial demonstration of MPEG-4 IPTV has been limited to component elements.

“By being able to demonstrate live the reliability, superior picture quality and advanced features of IPTV, we demonstrated to our customers and content partners, that Auroras will enable their services to reach many more subscribers through a cost effective, secure, end to end solution. Our technical expertise is a critical factor for success that will allow Auroras to add even more content providers to our system, which already boasts the rights to transport more MPEG 4 services than any other provider.” said Tracy Anderson, Auroras’ Senior Vice President of Content

Diane Smith, CEO of Auroras was effusive about the various companies who contributed to the success of the demo. “This demonstration is a remarkable reflection on all of the vendors who participated today and bodes well for the future of IPTV and those telecom companies who want to offer a full panoply of communications services. We are so grateful to the extraordinary efforts of Telesat, Globecomm, Advantech, SkyStream, Modulus, Envivio, Myrio, Wegener, i3Micro, and Superior Satellite Engineers. Their efforts are remarkable and they make the future happen everyday.”

About Auroras

Auroras is a customer-focused, end-to-end IPTV service provider dedicated to ensuring that smaller broadband service providers can compete - and win - in the race to offer advanced television entertainment services. By leveraging advanced Edge technologies, the Auroras service platform delivers to its customers all of the tools for the On-Demand world.