Comcast, Liberty Global and Bell Canada are supporting a new open source software initiative announced earlier this week by Wi-Fi technology vendor Plume.

At the Broadband World Forum in Berlin, Plume jointly announced, along with Samsung, that it was rendering open-source the Plume Middle Layer software it uses for gateways, modems, routers, access points, extenders, set-top boxes, IoT hubs, smart speaker and other Wi-Fi-connected devices.

The software will now be called OpenSync.

Plume says the OpenSync framework is “compatible with and leverages other open source initiatives and industry alliances,” including Reference Design Kit, the open source set-top and gateway software stack backed by Comcast, Liberty Global and eight other cable operators.

"For Liberty Global, a critical element of exploiting our broadband capabilities and delivering a superior connectivity experience to our customers is to ensure that we can continuously optimize Wi-Fi performance within a customer's home,” said Dan Hennessy, European CTO of Liberty Global, in a statement. “It is also clear to us that in creating those capabilities, we need to intelligently optimize performance across homes in close proximity to each another, which is common in our footprint. This is why we've already used elements of the OpenSync framework to optimize Wi-Fi in millions of homes and look forward to investigating ways in which the initiative might be applied to other use cases that may benefit our customers.”

‘"We've realized tremendous value from the RDK software stack in our advanced gateways," added Fraser Stirling, senior vpDigital Home, Devices & AI at Comcast. "Plume's PML is already integrated with RDK and deployed within our footprint, and we look forward to incorporating additional elements of OpenSync in the near future. The ability to deploy OpenSync atop the open-source RDK software further demonstrates the power and versatility of our approach. With more than 40 million RDK devices deployed globally, the RDK community is increasingly focused on new innovation for gateways and in-home mesh networking.”

Arris will get a piece of the action as Bell Canada upgrades its Fibe TV service to a personalized, multiscreen offering that will be powered by Ericsson’s MediaFirst platform.

Arris said it will be aiding that deployment with new boxes that support both 4K and High Dynamic Range, as well as 802.11ac WiFi using a 4x4 architecture. Arris’s  global services team will also provide integration services and customization for the user experience as Bell Canada moves to a MediaFirst-based offering.

Heading into the upgrade cycle, Bell Canada has been using Mediaroom, the IPTV platform Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in the fall of 2013. Arris has also been a key supplier of set-tops for Mediaroom.

Bell Canada’s IP-delivered Fibe TV service has about 1.5 million customers.

Arris reports Q4 2017 results on Wednesday afternoon.

Bell Canada has selected Plume to help power a new subscription-based whole-home WiFi service that features an app that helps customers manage and configure their home networks and WiFi “Pods” that work in tandem with the main gateway to spread WiFi signals to all corners of the home.

Bell Canada is offering a four-pack of WiFi Pods for $5 per month, and $2 per month for each additional Pod. Those Pods, small WiFi access points devices that plug directly into power outlets, have been integrated with Bell Canada’s Home Hub 3000 modem/gateway.

Bell Canada has underpinned the offering with a management app for iOS and Android mobile devices that lets users update and manage their WiFi network name, share login info with guests, and utilize parental controls.

The service provider is offering the new service initially to qualifying customers in Ontario and Quebec, with plans underway to extend it to Atlantic Canada and Manitoba. Bell Canada ended Q3 2017 with 3.76 million high-speed internet customers.

Fahri Diner, Plume’s CEO, characterized the deal as a “watershed moment” not just because it involves a major ISP, but also because it involves a major ISP utilizing a cloud-driven, service-based model for whole-home WiFi.

“When we created Plume, that was our fantasy…our belief that whole-home WiFi should be a service,” he said. “People shouldn’t have to worry about which hardware to buy. Hardware should be part of the service.”

Plume’s general guidance is one WiFi Pod per room. “We think of them like lightbulbs…you put them in every room,” Diner said.

ISPs such as Cox Communications (for its Panoramic WiFi offering), Midco (for an offering with AirTies), and Blue Ridge Communications (for a product called HomeFi that features compact WiFi access points from eero) have also adopted subscription-based, service-oriented models for their respective premium whole-home WiFi products.

Plume designs the WiFi Pods, but licenses those designs to CE companies, including Sagemcom, which also makes Bell Canada’s Home Hub 3000 gateway.

Comcast, an investor in Plume, recently began to roll out “xFi Pods” in Chicago and Boston, with a national deployment set to follow soon. But rather that offering those devices as a service, Comcast has been selling them in packs of three for $119 and in packs of six for $199.

RELATED: Comcast Starts Rollout of ‘xFi Pods’ to Boost Whole-Home WiFi

Diner said Bell Canada’s service approach represents an “incredible bargain” just for the WiFi Pods alone, noting that increased volumes for them – via Comcast and other service providers not yet announced – are helping to drive down the costs.

Though Plume’s primary approach is to license its hardware designs and not center on retail, Plume does sell its Pods directly online -- $179 for a three-pack, $329 for a six-pack, and $69 for each add-on.

Diner said Plume has other tier 1 operators that are in the process of deploying the vendor’s product/platform.

Bell Canada is also the latest major ISP to launch a whole-home WiFi product just this week.

AT&T has tapped AirTies for a mesh-based solution that includes network management software and Smart Wi-Fi Extenders, which are being sold by the carrier for $34.99 each and work with AT&T’s BGW or 5268 WiFi Gateway.

Ericsson Media Solutions and Bell Canada have inked an expanded multi-year deal that paves the way for the Canadian telco to build and launch a new multiscreen TV service powered by the vendor’s cloud-based MediaFirst platform.

The deal will bring personalized and converged multiscreen services to more than 1.5 million Fibe TV and Alt TV subs in Canada, they said.

Bell Canada has been using Mediaroom, the IPTV platform Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in the fall of 2013. MediaFirst is a next-gen, cloud-powered IP video platform that covers TVs as well as web browsers, smartphones and tablets.

“When integrated with Mediaroom, MediaFirst will deliver an agile, next generation TV platform with the necessary flexibility to easily incorporate third party apps,” they said.

Telus, another Canadian service provider that has previously used Mediaroom, is also upgrading to MediaFirst to augment Optik TV, its full-freight, managed IPTV service. Telus is also using Ericson’s MediaFirst platform to power Pik TV, an IP-delivered skinny bundle service that was introduced last April that runs smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box sold by Telus for C$100.

RELATED: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service

Other announced MediaFirst customers include J:COM, Japan's largest cable operator, and Canada's SaskTel. 

A set of Canadian cable service providers – Shaw Communications, Rogers Communications and Videotron – are moving ahead with next-gen, multiscreen pay TV services that are powered by Comcast’s X1 platform. In the U.S., Cox Communications is also using an X1 syndication deal to underpin its new Contour pay TV service.

RELATED: Videotron to Use Comcast’s X1 Platform to Power New IPTV Service

Canadian telco Bell has added a set-top-free, apps-driven pay TV option with the debut of Fibe Alt TV, a service that offers up to 500 channels in the home via iOS and Android mobile devices, fourth-gen Apple TV boxes and Web browsers.

Fibe Alt TV, an alternative to Bell’s Fibe TV service, starts at $14.95 per month for a lineup of more than 30 channels in a “Starter” package that includes basic networks such as CTV, CBC, Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC,  though customers must also take an Internet service from the company.

Bell is also selling bulkier Fibe Alt TV tiers that carry a regular price of up to $103 per month. Those customers can also tack on premium such as The Movie Network, CraveTV, and HBO Canada.

Alt TV is initially available to qualified Internet customers in Ontario and Quebec, with plans underway to extend access to Atlantic Canada and Manitoba.

Fibe Alt TV offers up to two simultaneous streams in the home via a managed IP video network, and also supports access to certain content when customers are on the go.

Bell said it expects to extend support for Fibe Alt TV to Android TV-based devices later this year.

Alt TV doesn’t support certain features offered on its flagship Fibe TV product, such as select programming and content in 4K format, DVR recording, the ability to pause and rewind live TV, to restart shows in progress or from the past 30 hours, or movie rentals and purchases. It does, however, support pay-per-view programing and has access to a VOD library.

Bell’s TV unit added 22,402 net new Fibe TV subs in Q1 2017, and ended the period with 2.83 million TV subs, including 108,107 that came way of its acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS), and a loss of 38,065 satellite TV subscribers.

Bell’s new streaming TV option comes on the scene as other service providers launch or make plans for next-gen video services.

Of recent note, Telus recently soft-launched a slimmed-down IPTV service/package called Pik TV that runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box and leans on Ericsson’s MediaFirst platform.

RELATED: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service

Shaw Communications, meanwhile, has launched “BlueSky TV,” a service that uses Comcast’s X1 platform. Rogers Communications has plans to debut an X1- based IPTV service by early 2018.

RELATED: Rogers to Tap Comcast’s X1 Platform for IPTV Shift

Bell is the latest Canadian pay TV operator to forge a direct integration with Netflix, announcing Monday that it will provide access on set-tops powering its Fibe and FibreOP TV services.

Bell, which also markets its own multiplatform SVOD service, CraveTV, said all Fibe TV receivers have been automatically upgraded to support Netflix, which will offered as an app on the telco’s pay TV platforms.

Bell said it added 67,908 net new Fibe TV and FibreOP TV subs in Q3, and that it ended the period with 1.1 million IPTV subs, up 23% from the year-ago quarter.

Netflix launches service in Canada in 2010, but does not break out how many subscribers it has there. It ended the third quarter with 69.17 million subs worldwide, including 43.18 in the U.S.

Cogeco, a Canadian cable operator, also provides direct access to Netflix via a TiVo-powered offering that was introduced about a year ago.

Viewers Choice Canada, the joint-venture, pay-per-view content distributor owned by Bell Media and Rogers, is closing down in September, which might create opportunities for other providers to step in and fill a gap in providing access to  PPV movies and events, especially for smaller pay-TV providers in Canada.

The shutdown, which has been reported earlier in Canadian media, including cartt.ca, comes as a result of changes in ownership at the 23-year-old PPV distributor. 

Bell Media became the majority owner last year after buying Astral Media, which had owned a minority stake, with Rogers owning the rest. A Bell representative confirmed the service is closing down operations on Sept. 30.

"The two co-owners of VCC, Bell and Rogers, both have their own pay-per-view services and thus feel there is no need to keep the service operating as a standalone entity," the Bell statement said. "VCC will be working with its affiliate partners to ensure that a smooth transition to another provider of pay-per-view (including Bell, Rogers, and Shaw) will occur."

Carrt.ca reported that providers other than Bell Media and Rogers, which have their own PPV distribution businesses, "may have to scramble to find something to replace the pay-per-view service, which offers both movies and event programming such as boxing, UFC and WWE matches." Viewers Choice Canada affiliates include Videotron, Cogeco, Eastlink, Bell Aliant, Source Cable and select other smaller providers, carrt.ca said. Videotron, which operates in Quebec, and was said by carrt.ca to be looking into asking for permission to expand its French-language PPV service, Canal Indigo, to also include English programming.

One U.S. content distributor, Vubiquity, said it was aware of the situation and exploring the potential of providing PPV content to small cable and telco providers north of the U.S. border. In fact, it is already doing business in Canada. “Vubiquity’s platform is integrated with most Canadian operators and has provided a range of managed services in Canada for years," the company told Multichannel News in a statement. "And since we work with every event supplier, we are actively exploring ways to assist our Canadian partners in accessing these important PPV events.”

Viewers Choice Canada began in 1981 as an alternative to video-store movie rentals in Eastern Canada, and then expanded to a nationwide service, The Canadian Press reported. "For years it was also the exclusive Canadian provider of major sporting events like Wrestlemania from the WWE and helped build the reputation of mixed martial arts company the Ultimate Fighting Championship," the story added.