Minerva Drives Italy's IPTV

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Minerva® Networks, the leading provider of IP Television infrastructure, today announced that the largest installation of networked personal video recording (nPVR) to date has been deployed leveraging its video processing technology. FastWeb, the leading Italian provider of integrated telephony, Internet access and television services, has deployed a complete nPVR solution for its broadband fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) IP network. The Italian operator, controlled by e.Biscom SpA (Milan's Nuovo Mercato: EBI), expects a take-rate of over 80% for the new nPVR services from its current television subscribers in all of Italy's major cities: Milan, Genoa, Turin, Rome, Naples and Bologna.FastWeb's nPVR solution uses the flexibility of Minerva VNP video encoders to enable subscribers to record up to a week's worth of programming from nine (9) national television channels. The Minerva encoders automatically deliver recorded programming to video servers located at the edge (headend) of the operator's network. Viewers have the ability to pause, rewind and fast forward recorded programming or call up shows from earlier in the week, which are then streamed from the headend servers."FastWeb's FTTH infrastructure is ideal for the delivery of networked PVR," said Mauro Bonomi, CEO of Minerva Networks. " We are excited to be a part of this state-of-the art deployment which will offer FastWeb subscribers unsurpassed flexibility in accessing Television programming."Minerva Networks Inc.