adb_adb 21/05/2015 18:38 Page 1
ADB back to
the future
with the broadband
knowledge that came with
the acquisition of Pirelli
Broadband Solutions five
years ago; we now work
with most of the major
telecoms companies in
Europe.”
“We started off our
journey as a software
company, then a solutions
delivery company including
hardware, and over the
years we developed a lot of
complex integration
capability and as we go into
the multi-screen, multiservice world it means that, with the
broadband as well, we have a Software,
Systems and Services capability which is
unrivalled in the market.”
“So what we refer to ‘Triple S’: Software,
Systems and Services, is our focus as the
core competence for the future. We’re still
ADB is known as a set-top box
brand but there is much more to it
than that and the transition to a
‘software, systems and services’
provider is a reflection of its roots.
he offices of ADB in a quiet
suburb of Geneva are a world
away from the constant bustle
of Taipei where it was founded. From
here, CEO Peter Balchin (right) and a
small headquarters team plan the
steady transition from a profile as an
STB vendor to that of a fullservice solutions provider.
“This business started out in
1995 as a software company
based in Taipei,” says Balchin.
“Indeed the company was called
Asia Digital Broadcast before
becoming Advanced Digital
Broadcast, and it provided very
complex software solutions for
broadcast requirements in the
market in that part of the
world.”
“Later the company began
providing hardware, always
from selected Taiwanese manufacturers, but
ADB always concentrated on solutions
delivery, particularly integration. We came
to Europe ten years ago and have always
T
“We started our journey
as a software company.”
worked with major network providers.”
“Today, of course, those networks are
becoming more and more
complex; multi-device, multiservice, even multiple
networks – many of our
traditional broadcasters are
now as much a broadband
service provider as they are a
broadcaster and often they
own or use a mobile network too. So there’s
a real mix of business and technology
requirements in the marketplace.”
“For us it is a huge opportunity to bring
the skills ADB has from broadcast together
supplying hardware – STBs and Home
Gateways - in a lot of situations and we will
continue to do so. But in other cases, we are
providing software and services for other
hardware – either something that’s already
in place with an operator, or a hardware
partner that we are working with who takes
our software and services as part of their
solution.”
“Meantime, we still have our own
branded products and solutions
such as Graphyne TV, the
complete suite of our software
for the broadcast space
including OTT, IPTV end-toend solutions all of which can
be customised to specific
network requirements or
specific devices. Likewise on the broadband
side, we have a product suite called
Epicentro for the home gateway marketplace
providing QoE and device management and
network control.”
“We have the ability to specify, architect,
project-manage and systems integrate
delivery of a device or an end-to-end solution
for a service provider; that’s a complex
business and getting more complicated than
“Software, Systems and
Services, is our focus.”
ever. We’ve gone from a world where the only
device was a managed device – a STB – to a
whole range of unmanaged devices where the
underlying software is not controlled, QoS
over the network is not controlled and yet the
subscriber expects a level of service similar to
that in the home. A provider is faced with
constant challenges and innovations and I
think there are just a handful of companies
who, based on their experience and expertise,
can deliver appropriate solutions and manage
the evolution of those
solutions in an environment of
constant change. ”
“Keeping ahead of the
game obviously requires a lot
of engineering and software
expertise. We have two
development centres; on the
broadcast side, this is in
Poland where we have around
300 engineers and there are
another 100 or so in Milan
focused on the broadband
side. Our other centre is De
Moines in the US and that
handles our commercial video solution which
is deployed for hotels and other venues by
many of the leading MSOs including Time
Warner, Charter and Cox.”
“Looking beyond media delivery, there is
the Smart Home and the Internet of Things,
we see practical elements of that coming to
bear in the next few years – where service
providers, or the providers of the home
devices, will enable their cost of service to be
reduced and customer service to be improved
by proactively monitoring and managing
those devices. We monitor devices in the
home in the broadband world all the time;
it’s becoming the same in broadcast where
most devices now have a return path, so as
domestic appliances all become smart devices
it means there is an inherently Smart Home
but all of that needs to be managed,
monitored and maintained which is a great
opportunity for companies like ADB to
provide a lot of added value to the service
provider or to device manufacturers.”
EUROMEDIA 21