Oberhausen, Germany, 13 September 2017 − ACCESS CO., LTD (IBC stand 14.D14), and DTVKit today announced a collaboration to offer open standards-based solutions to the connected entertainment industry. ACCESS will demonstrate its solutions supporting HbbTV, HTML5, Freeview Play 2017 and more at IBC 2017 (14 – 19 September 2017, Amsterdam RAI, stand #14.D14).

Since its inception in the 1980s, ACCESS has continually demonstrated its commitment to supporting industry standards throughout its product porfolio. Today, the NetFront™ Browser family and ACCESS Twine™ solutions support HTML5, HbbTV 1.5, HbbTV 2.0.1, BML, Hybridcast, UK Freeview Play 2017, YouTube on TV and uPnP, as well as device operating systems such as Linux, iOS and Android. With exciting developments also in the IoT space, ACCESS continues to develop solutions for the ever changing connected entertainment industry.

“Open standards are part of the ACCESS DNA, and we are excited to be partnering with DTVKit to extend the options for our browser customers’ connected entertainment platforms,” said Dr. Neale Foster, Managing Director and COO at ACCESS Europe. “Working alongside the DTVkit community enables DVB functionality to be more quickly integrated into connected entertainment devices enabling operators to focus on the areas that differentiate their products, such as compelling HTML5 based UIs, whole home media redistribution and applications leveraging standards such as HbbTV.”

Operators experience significant pressure to provide modern user experiences and blend these with connected services such as Video-on-Demand or third party Over-The-Top services. The combination of the NetFront™ Browser BE Chromium based browser solution for HTML5 and HbbTV 2 with a field proven and open DVB implementation provides a more secure multi-process architecture browser, greater standards compliance and enhanced flexibility for the development of services.

DTVKit is dedicated to transforming the connected entertainment industry by positively changing the approach to developing and maintaining the key, non-differentiating software components necessary to implement a digital television receiver. DTVKit enables a shift away from proprietary royalty based models towards an open royalty free model. Currently DTVKit is being deployed in significant quantities by operators all over the world, for DVB–S2 and DVB-C boxes, alongside DVB-T2 boxes in Germany and South Africa.

“Within the consumer TV and set-top box market, there is a large amount of unnecessary or duplicated effort around updating and maintaining individual DVB software components. By fostering collaboration among members, we enable operators and box makers to innovate at much lower cost and facilitate simpler certification. We are very happy to welcome ACCESS as a member of DTVKit as the company has consistently proved that open standards projects can be turned into high quality solutions for successful operator deployments.” commented Phil Evans, CEO at DTVKit, “Our customers have been asking for the option of a commercially sourced Chromium based browser SDK for some time. They understand the value to their business of regular updates, product roadmaps, engineering support, and additional features for such a complex and integral component of the overall solution.”

Visitors to stand #14.D14 at IBC will be able to witness ACCESS’ open standards based, turnkey solutions, including ACCESS Twine and the NetFront Browser lightning speed HTML5 engine, already deployed in 1.5 billion devices worldwide and compatible with industry standards such as BML, Ginga and HbbTV.

On Sunday, September 17 at 15:30 – 16:15, ACCESS will also be taking part in a panel discussion entitled “Service design considerations for the multi-screen OTT world” in the Content Everywhere Hub (Hall #14.J10). Attendees to the panel discussion will be able to learn about the various elements to take into account when developing a multiscreen-friendly user experience based on open standards.

Note to editors: If you would like to meet with an ACCESS spokesperson at IBC 2017, please contact Zoe Mumba of Platform Communications: ACCESS@platformcomms.com, (T) +44 (0)20 7486 4900.

About ACCESS
Since 1984, ACCESS CO., LTD. (Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Index, 4813) has provided advanced IT solutions centered around mobile and network software technologies to telecom carriers, consumer electronics manufacturers, broadcasting and publishing companies, the automotive industry and energy infrastructure providers around the world. The company develops mobile software solutions that have been installed on over 1.5 billion devices, and network software solutions that have been used by over 300 telecommunication equipment manufacturers. Utilizing its network virtualization technology skills and knowledge, the company is currently focusing on the development and commercialization of Internet of Things (IoT) and media solutions that combine embedded and cloud technology. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the company operates subsidiaries and affiliates in Asia, Europe and the United States to support and expand its business globally. Learn more about ACCESS at www.access-company.com.

About DTVKit
DTVKit is a UK not-for-profit organisation, collaborating across the consumer electronics industry to deliver the very best production-ready DVB software to members and the end user. The organisation is supported by members who provide subscription fees and expert software engineers to accelerate software development for the Digital Television market. The efforts of the DTVKit community will further enhance the development of the four main software components; DVB Core, MHEG Engine, HbbTV Plug-In and CI+ Engine. It aims to provide the best software foundation’s to give the highest ROI to members. For more information, please visit dtvkit.org or follow us on Twitter @DTVKit.

Press Contact:
Amy Cleary
Marketing and Operations Manager
Email: amy.cleary@dtvkit.org
Telephone: +44(0) 117 2140422

© 2017 ACCESS CO., LTD. All rights reserved.
ACCESS, the ACCESS logo, and NetFront are registered trademarks or trademarks of ACCESS CO., LTD. in the United States, Japan and/or other countries. DLNA is a registered trademark and DLNA Certified is a trademark of the Digital Living Network Alliance. Digital Living Network Alliance is a service mark of the Digital Living Network Alliance. All other trademarks, logos and trade names mentioned in the document are the property of their respective owners.