Freesat Selects ARRIS as Partner to Launch Generation 3 Set-Top Box

Some of the most important conversations we’re having at IBC2018 are about enabling customers to launch new services. A good example is our work with Freesat – BBC’s and ITV’s joint UK venture on a new range of 4K UHD/HDR video devices.

Freesat logo

Some of the most important conversations we’re having at IBC2018 are about enabling customers to launch new services. A good example is our work with Freesat – BBC’s and ITV’s joint UK venture on a new range of 4K UHD/HDR video devices. The portfolio, which will arrive in UK outlets next year, will make Freesat the country’s first operator to offer subscription-free, retail 4K satellite receivers. The partnership also has plans to offer end-to-end TV solutions to expand into other markets across Europe.

The new line-up features four feature-packed devices with 500GB, 1TB and 2TB hard drive options for DVR, as well as one without, providing a high quality, free to air alternative to pay TV.  Each can deliver crystal-clear 4K satellite TV – and will leverage ARRIS’s KreaTV® platform that may also be used to support OTT streaming services like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, and YouTube; plus Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth connectivity – all in a slim, compact package.

The portfolio integrates our popular KreaTV® platform with Freesat’s Metaphor open-standards TV platform to streamline the user experience across entertainment services, while providing the ability to deliver new services faster.

“Our new range of 4K devices will offer Freesat customers all their favorite entertainment in one place,” said Alistair Thom, CEO, Freesat. “We partnered with ARRIS because of their expertise in combining a rich array of linear, on-demand and OTT video and popular apps into a single, convenient and seamless experience. ARRIS’s leadership was key in delivering a range of choices that would work across multiple services. ARRIS’s integration of our Metaphor platform with KreaTV® platform will also give Freesat a scalable services platform when we expand into other European markets in the future.”

We’re enabling Freesat to capitalize on the growing demand for Ultra High Definition (UHD) as the technology’s adoption continues to expand across the UK. According to Ofcom, nearly 100 percent of all new TVs sold in the UK are HD-compatible, with UHD-compatible TVs making up just over 40 percent.

The new range of 4K devices is our first line of products for the UK retail channel and is also our first KreaTV® platform device for DVB-S2, marking a major milestone that will support our continued international expansion.

Visit ARRIS at IBC (Hall 1, Stand B19) to find out how our innovations in consumer entertainment technology are enabling our customers to develop exciting new TV services.