SkyLife Enhances HD Services With TANDBERG Television MPEG-4 AVC

HONG KONG, Jun 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ERIC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), today announced that it is upgrading the satellite head-end system of Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting Co. Ltd., more universally recognized under its 'SkyLife' brand name. The enhanced MPEG-4 AVC system will allow SkyLife to expand its high definition (HD) TV services. As Korea's only satellite broadcast operator, SkyLife is at the forefront of the country's television landscape and is aiming to offer more channels and continue its improvement of advanced services to its subscribers. Following a review of its existing video head-end system, SkyLife selected TANDBERG Television's advanced solutions because they meet the operator's needs today, and provide a flexible platform for the future.

"As Korea's only satellite broadcaster, we continually seek to provide enhanced, next-generation services to our subscribers. Increasing the number of HD channels enables us to improve our offering and provide an even greater consumer experience," said Sung Yong Woo, CTO, SkyLife. "We are pleased to have furthered our relationship with TANDBERG Television in order to achieve this goal. The company's vast industry experience and expertise has enabled us to seamlessly upgrade our head-end system to roll out more advanced services across our network."

SkyLife's full commercial broadcast service was launched in 2002 and since then has acquired 2.25 million subscribers. It offers over 150 specialized channels including movies, education, children's programming, sports, news and music. Since its launch, it has introduced services such as electronic program guide (EPG), interactive broadcasting and HD transmission of high profile sporting events, such as the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

"As SkyLife grows and develops its service offering, it recognizes that TANDBERG Television's next-generation advanced solutions can enable it to achieve this progression," said Dario Choi, VP and general manager of TANDBERG Television Asia Pacific. "Having already provided SkyLife with HD encoding equipment in the past, we are now pleased to be fully upgrading its MPEG-4 AVC head-end system to increase the amount of channels it can provide on limited satellite bandwidth."

TANDBERG Television will provide SkyLife with a range of its market-leading head-end equipment, including the next-generation EN8090 MPEG-4 AVC high definition encoder, which enables an increased number of HDTV channels to be distributed over SkyLife's satellite network. In addition, TANDBERG E5770 encoders will provide the best standard definition (SD) MPEG-2 real-time encoding and enable SkyLife to deliver high quality SD pictures quality, as well as maximizing bandwidth.

The company will also provide its award-winning TANDBERG RX1290 Multi-Format Professional Receivers, which are able to receive both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC HD and SD services, and SM6600 series satellite modulators, a highly flexible product range with a set of leading features that provides feature rich modulation solutions whilst maintaining ease of use and control. TANDBERG Television has also supplied its nCompass Control management system for configuration, system monitoring and redundancy.

About TANDBERG Television

TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), delivers the multimedia technology and expertise that is moving digital video forward. Whether it's advanced compression systems, on-demand or content distribution, the company's award-winning solutions are used by the world's leading broadcasters, operators and programmers to deliver new viewer experiences and advertising opportunities. With a broad suite of open, standards-based products, TANDBERG Television offers the highest quality solutions for Digital TV, HDTV, VOD, and IPTV. For more information, please visit www.tandbergtv.com

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of 'communication for all' through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 70,000 employees generated revenue of USD 27.9 billion (SEK 188 billion) in 2007. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and NASDAQ.

For more information, visit www.ericsson.com or www.ericsson.mobi.

SOURCE: TANDBERG Television

For Media Information: Corporate/EMEA/APAC Gay Bell +44 208 964 9149 gbell@platformpr.com or APAC Bonnie Tan +852 2899 7003 btan@tandbergtv.com or Ericsson Media Relations Phone: +46 8 719 69 92 E-mail: press.relations@ericsson.com

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