Keeping its eye fixed on the emerging LTE broadcast market, multiscreen video firm Quickplay has acquired Roundbox Inc., a New Jersey-based maker of technologies that optimize video and other data-intensive apps delivered on mobile networks.
The deal, announced Wednesday, aims to further Quickplay’s ability to deliver premium video using multicast and unicast approaches on a variety of network types, including LTE Broadcast, WiFi, as well as 3G.
Roundbox’s customers include mobile providers such as KDDI and Verizon, as well as several broadcasters, including PBS, Gannett, Raycom Media, and Hearst Corp.
Quickplay said its managed service offering covers more than 700 million “end subscribers,” handling on-demand and live channels for providers such as AT&T U-Verse, Rogers Communications, Telus, Bell Canada, and Bloomberg.
Quickplay noted that the integration of Roundbox’s client and server technology into its own managed service will help mobile network operators to monetize LTE Broadcast use cases, including live event streaming, live TV streaming, “push” services (e.g. news, stock updates, sports highlights), connected car services and subscription music and radio services.
Among U.S. mobile service providers, Verizon and AT&T have been testing LTE Broadcast/Multicast, a bandwidth-friendly technique that uses a dedicated slice of wireless spectrum to deliver content. Of recent note, AT&T used it to conduct its first live, on-site trial of LTE Broadcast technology during January’s College Football Championship matchup between Oregon and Ohio State AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Verizon demonstrated the technique, which it calls LTE Multicast, during events surrounding the 2014 Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos.
