Korean Telecom has become one of the world's first pay TV providers to offer a cloud DVR service to its subscribers, with the aid of Alticast.

The South Korean telco, which runs a satellite TV and multiscreen video service called KT SkyLife, is partnering with Alticast Corp. , to deliver what Alticast claims is the "world's first large-scale deployment of a cloud-based personal video recorder (PVR) service." While Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) might beg to differ on the definition of "large scale," the SkyLife rollout does represent a milestone for a software company which says its Media Cloud Platform is now available across SkyLife's entire customer footprint.

As of the end of 2013, KT SkyLife had 4.2 million subscribers. Cablevision, whose network DVR product is available to nearly all of its customers in the New York metro area, has about 3 million subscribers for its multi-room DVR service.

SkyLife is using all four modules of the Alticast Media Cloud Platform for the new cloud service that it's calling SkyLife on Demand (SoD). These include systems for content ingest/delivery, service management, media storage, and media streaming. Alticast says each component is optional and interoperable with technology from other providers.

In addition, SkyLife is using Alticast's AltiProtect digital rights management solution. Previously, the satellite TV provider implemented additional software from Alticast to support its interactive TV services.

In a press release, Alticast CMO Thomas Jung said the "success of SkyLife's SOD service validates both the concept of Cloud-based PVRs and the capabilities of our Alticast Media Cloud Platform."

Alticast, which has its headquarters in Korea, has customers around the globe, including Videotron Ltd. , Cablevision, Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), and Bright House Networks in North America. While it has largely flown under the Western media radar until recently, the company has lately expanded its promotional efforts and is touting numerous new products and services for 2014.

At the Consumer Electronics Show last month, for instance, Alticast showed off an HDMI adapter combining Android and cable-ready Reference Design Kit (RDK) software, the second generation of its advanced HTML5 Windmill user interface, a new multi-tuner gateway offering, and a remote-storage DVR implementation with a USB stick for supporting pause and rewind functions for live TV. (See Alticast Primps for Vegas Spotlight.)

Alticast CTO John Carlucci told Light Reading last month that Europe and North America are very much a part of the company's growth strategy going forward. Alticast closed its initial public offering at the end of 2013, raising about $16 million, and is now listed on the Korean stock exchange KOSDAQ under the symbol ATCAST.

— Mari Silbey, special to Light Reading