Com Hem of Sweden is publicizing a small trial ahead of its coming deployment of the TiVo platform, which has been ported to this slick-looking Samsung box that looks alot like the box Virgin Media is using in the U.K. to deliver its TiVo-powered service:
And by small, we mean it – just 20 Com Hem subs are getting the first dibs as the Swedish MSO prepares its wide-scale launch. Thanks to some translation work, the TiVo Insights discussion board explains that the test is slated to wrap up in mid-September, and follow with the commercial launch.
The small initial trial comes about 14 months after TiVo announced that its software would power a new IPTV/multi-screen video service from Com Hem, Sweden’s largest cable MSO, with about 1.75 million homes passed (about 37% of the nation).
Com Hem will be looking for TiVo to give its slipping digital video base a boost. The MSO ended the first quarter of 2013 with 613,300 digital video subs, down from 643,600 in the year-ago period.
The Com Hem deal marked a first for TiVo at the time, as it was the first in which TiVo was to deliver its platform fully independent of the set-top and DVR. Set-top makers that have signed a license for TiVo’s Hardware Porting Kit include Samsung, Pace, Cisco Systems and Technicolor. Last week, Cable One became the first North American MSO to deploy a Pace-built gateway powered by TiVo. The U.K.’s largest MSO, Virgin Media, has been delivering TiVo via a mix of Cisco and Samsung devices.
