AT&T, PCCW, Canal+, GoBackTV, Miniweb, Brightcove, the BBC and Ericsson were all winners of awards presented at a gala event in London as part of the IPTV World Forum. AT&T received awards for innovative service and subscriber growth, while PCCW was recognised for best quad play service and with an individual award to its chief technology officer for his contribution to the industry.
Pace and CANAL+ were awarded the best hybrid broadcast-IP video delivery solution or service award, for +Le Cube, which is the first hybrid satellite and broadband digital video recorder set-top box in Europe to use the network port for video-on-demand services.
PCCW was awarded the best quad play service prize for its snaap! service, which allows users to share digital photo albums on television screens, computer monitors over broadband, mobile handsets and the PCCW ‘eye’ multimedia device, while providing free-of-charge data transfer.
AT&T received the prize for the most innovative new service, for its U-verse total home digital video recorder which allows customers to watch recordings on other connected television in the home.
AT&T also won the award for best subscriber growth achievement after breaking through the magic one million mark by the end of 2008, adding more than 800,000 U-verse customers in 2008 alone.
GoBackTV received the award for the best cable IPTV technology, in recognition of its RetroVue solution.
Miniweb Interactive was the recipient of the best interactive service or application. Its interactive service system is deployed in over 9 million homes on the Sky Digital platform in the United Kingdom.
Brightcove was presented with the award for best internet television technology or solution for its online video platform.
BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media cable was recognised as the best on-demand technology.
Ericsson was recognised as the best IPTV service delivery platform or client software for its IMS IPTV middleware solution.
Paul Berriman, chief technology officer at PCCW, was presented the special merit award for outstanding industry contribution.
The judges presenting the awards included William Cooper, the founder and chief executive of informitv, alongside a high-profile panel of consultants, analysts and editors.
The annual IPTV World Series awards have grown in status since their inception three years ago, attracting submissions from across the industry and around the globe.