Ericsson’s Media Solutions unit, which includes the Mediaroom IPTV platform, has been rebranded as MediaKind, the company said. 

The unit includes technology Ericsson has acquired from such companies as Aspex, Azuki Systems, Envivio, Fabrix, HyCGroup and Tandberg Television, and currently serves more than 900 cable, satellite and telecom service providers and broadcasters around the world with video delivery technology.

RELATED: Cisco Attacks Ericsson's Mediaroom Market

In January, One Equity Partners agreed to buy 51% of the Media Solutions business. The new brand will carry through after that deal closes later this year, the company said.

MediaKind also named its senior executive team, led by CEO Angel Ruiz. 

Ericsson previously separated Media Solutions from its Broadcast and Media Services business unit, dubbed Red Bee Media.

Ericsson has concluded a review of strategic opportunities for its Media division (Media Solutions and Red Bee Media), announcing that One Equity Partners will acquire a majority stake in that business.

Ericsson’s Media business includes Mediaroom, the IPTV platform acquired from Microsoft in September 2013, as well as MediaFirst, a next-gen, cloud-based video platform for MVPDs and OTT service providers.

RELATED: Bell Canada Rings Up Ericsson for Upgraded TV Platform

Financial terms of the transaction with One Equity Partners was not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2018. 

Ericsson, which retains a 49% stake in the Media Solutions unit, said it completed its review following an evaluation of different opportunities for both Media Solutions and Red Bee Media, including partnerships, divestments and continued in-house development. Ericsson initiated the review in March 2017.

RELATED: Ericsson Wraps Up Red Bee Buy

Last November, Ericsson renamed its Broadcast and Media Services business unit Red Bee Media, setting off another wave of speculation that the decision was tied to possible M&A activity involving that division.

RELATED: Ericsson Renames Broadcast and Media Services Business

Uncertainty about the future of Mediaroom and MediaFirst has caused some competitors to take advantage.

Cisco Systems, for example, has been pushing ahead with a Mediaroom replacement program that aims to convert some of those service providers to Cisco’s own cloud-based, multiscreen offering, the Infinite Video Platform. Cisco, which is in discussions with service providers about that program with plans to start trials soon, has said that Mediaroom users can convert to Cisco’s platform without swapping out their old set-top boxes.

RELATED: Cisco Attacks Ericsson’s Mediaroom Market (subscription required)

More Changes Afoot 

Ericsson announced the deal amid Q4 2017 financial results and a restructuring of its exec team.

Among the exec changes, Ericsson has created a Business Area Emerging Business unit to focus on “innovation and new business development,” with an initial focus on IoT and distributed cloud solutions.  Effective April 1, Åsa Tamsons will take on the role of SVP and head of Ericsson’s Business Area Emerging Business. Tamsons joins Ericsson from McKinsey & Company, where she has held the position as partner in McKinsey’s Stockholm office.

Ericsson is also streamlining its group function structure, from currently six functions to four. The majority of current Group Function Technology & Emerging Business, including hosted group responsibilities such as the CTO office and Ericsson Research, will form part of Business Area Emerging Business.

Starting February 1, current Group Function Marketing & Communications and Group Function Sustainability & Public Affairs will be merged into a new Group Function Marketing & Corporate Relations, headed by Helena Norrman, currently head of Group Function Marketing & Communications.

Ericsson said its Business Area Digital Services is “undergoing significant transformation to create a profitable and strong offering in this strategically important area,” and Ulf Ewaldsson has decided to step down from leading the unit, and assume the role as advisor to the CEO.

On the financial end, Ericsson said Q4 sales dipped 12%, and that it saw a net reduction of 10,000 employees and external workforce during the quarter.

Ericsson isn’t the only company providing an upgrade path for Mediaroom, the IPTV platform it acquired from Microsoft in 2013.

Cisco Systems is applying some competitive pressure on Ericsson as it moves ahead with a replacement program that takes direct aim at Mediaroom’s market. In addition to converting those service providers to Cisco’s own cloud-based, multiscreen offering, the Infinite Video Platform (IVP), Cisco said it can help operators make the move without swapping out their old set-tops.

Cisco embarked on the Mediaroom replacement program after a number of its customers “expressed concerns around where Ericsson was with their media division” and asked if Cisco would be interested in providing an alternative offering, Ramin Farassat, director of product line management and product marketing for Cisco’s Service Provider Platforms & Applications unit, said.

Farassat said those conversations got underway about a year ago. Coincidentally, they were happening around the time a Bloomberg report suggested Ericsson had hired banks to review its media business, including the search for a possible buyer for its broadcast and media services unit.

Ericsson hasn’t confirmed those plans, but last year it renamed its Broadcast and Media Services business unit Red Bee Media, sparking fresh speculation the decision was tied to possible M&A activity involving that division.

UPDATE (1-31-2018): Ericsson Sells Majority Stake in Media Solutions Unit

Enabling the Move to IVP
The premise behind Cisco’s Mediaroom replacement program is to enable those service providers to move to IVP, which supports linear TV, video-on-demand, cloud DVR services (including 4K) and new interfaces and voice navigation for set-tops and mobile devices, in a way “that doesn’t actually reinvent the wheel,” Farassat said. “We didn’t want to introduce another completely new architecture to customers.”

While Cisco’s Mediaroom replacement approach leans on the IVP cloud backend for video management and distribution, it doesn’t require the operator to swap out most of the boxes they are currently using for Mediaroom. Those include boxes originally made by suppliers such as Arris, Technicolor and Cisco. (Cisco sold its consumer premises equipment business to Technicolor in late 2015.)

Cisco’s program calls for those operators to convert those legacy boxes to support IVP, a move that does require a changing out of the box’s operating system, middleware and user interface.

Farassat said Cisco did a survey of boxes now used by Mediaroom to see if they have the processing and memory required to run IVP. It found that most of them — save for a few first-generation models still in the field — are eligible for the conversion/upgrade.

Cisco is also looking to complement those older Mediaroom boxes (to be outfitted with a new Linux-based platform during the conversion) with new, more advanced boxes that run Android TV.

However, both environments — the legacy boxes and the new ones running Android TV — would use the same style of user interface. Those UIs “look identical and have the same performance,” Farassat said.

Making Newer Connections
In addition to operator-supplied boxes and smartphones and tablets, IVP’s converged core also would pave the way for operator partners to run services on TV-connected retail streaming devices.

For the set-top box conversion process, Cisco is setting up a way for operators to target individual boxes or groups of deployed boxes without requiring expensive truck rolls. For example, the consumer would get a message prompting them to reboot the box to receive the new software, then reboot it again for the new interface to be installed.

“Everything is done remotely,” Farassat said.

Service providers that opt for the program will be running Mediaroom and IVP in parallel until the conversion ends. After that, they can shut down the Mediaroom servers, encoders and other elements of the platform.

Cisco has not announced any takers for its program, though Farassat expects that trials will be underway as early as the end of Q1 2018 or by the start of Q2.

Don’t expect Ericsson to merely stand by as Cisco attempts to steamroll its Mediaroom market. Ericsson has had some success in getting Mediaroom partners to upgrade to MediaFirst, its new cloud-based, multiscreen platform.

Earlier this month, Bell Canada and Ericsson expanded a multiyear deal that will pave the way for BCE to upgrade to MediaFirst. Telus, another Mediaroom customer, is also upgrading to MediaFirst to augment Optik TV, its full freight-managed IPTV service. Telus is also using MediaFirst to power Pik TV, an IP-delivered skinny bundle service introduced last April that runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box sold by Telus.

J-Com, Japan’s largest cable operator, and Canada’s SaskTel are other announced MediaFirst customers. AT&T, a longtime Mediaroom user for its U-verse platform, said in 2015 it had tapped Ericsson to “enhance” its telco TV platform and evolve its satellite and wireline TV offerings in the wake of the AT&T-DirecTV merger. That announcement did not mention MediaFirst, but last year FCC documents revealed AT&T was working on an Android TV-powered device.

Though Cisco is using IVP to target the Mediaroom base, the vendor has already notched several deployments of it with service providers outside the Mediaroom universe that include Vodafone (for its GigaTV service in Germany), Canada’s Eastlink and Israel’s YES, among others.

Ericsson confirmed that it has hired video tech industry vet Shiva Patibanda as vice president and chief technology officer of TV and Media.

Patibanda was formerly CTO and GM of in-home products at SeaChange International, in charge of its Nucleus video gateway software (and components that were included in the initial version of the Reference Design Kit), and left the company last year. Patibanda joined SeaChange in 2010 when it acquired middleware company VividLogic. According to his LinkedIn profile, Patibanda has been serving as president of a company called Danishta Inc., with his role described as a technical advisor and angel investor.

Patibanda joins Ericsson as it looks to stay aggressive in the TV and video sector, and focus on both traditional MVPDs as well as a broadening array of over-the-top providers.

In addition to bringing multiscreen enhancements to Mediaroom, the IPTV platform it acquired from Microsoft in 2013,  Ericsson is putting even more energy into MediaFirst, a new, HTML5-focused platform that’s tailored for the cloud and support for an array of connected devices/clients, including set-tops, tablets, smartphones, streaming players and PCs.

Ericsson is also playing a significant role at AT&T as the company, which already uses Mediaroom for U-verse TV, looks to evolve and integrate its satellite and wireline TV platforms. Earlier this week, AT&T announced plans to launch three DirecTV-branded OTT services in Q4 2016, and stressed that its broader video strategy will eventually revolve around a unified middleware and software platform for all of its video service distribution points (OTT, satellite, wireless, and managed IPTV).

Frontier Communications  is gearing up to launch FrontierTV, an IPTV service, to select parts of the Durham, N.C., area in January using the telco’s copper and fiber networks.

According to Telecompetitor, Frontier’s coming linear and VOD pay TV offering will leverage lessons learned in some acquired AT&T U-verse and FiOS TV markets and apply them to its incumbent markets, starting with Durham, where it will grapple for video supremacy against Time Warner Cable, AT&T GigaPower, and newcomer Google Fiber.

Dennis Bloss, Frontier VP and GM for the Durham market, told the publication that video will become an important part of the bundle in the market.  “Offering video changes our take rates and without a video product, it’s hard to compete with broadband only,” Bloss told Telecompetitor, which notes that Frontier will base its IPTV service there on  Ericsson Mediaroom, the platform Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in September 2013.

The offering will feature a wireless HD-DVR with six tuners, enough storage for 500 hours of HD video, support for 4K, and a lineup of more than 630 channels. Frontier will complement it with a TV Everywhere app for web browsers, tablets and smartphones.

Frontier has not announced pricing, but noted that customers will be able to bundle it with voice and data starting at under $70 per month.

Frontier has been active on the video front in other ways. Earlier this year, it began to promote a new offering called FreedomTV that’s targeted cord-cutters and broadband-only subs that leans on TiVo’s Roamio OTA model and starts at $20 per month.  Subs who take the FreedomTV option can also get a TiVo Mini (an IP client to access service on an additional TV) or the TiVo Stream (a streaming sidecar that can deliver live TV and recorded shows to mobile devices) for an additional $9.99 per month.

The video marketplace is growing increasingly fragmented as traditional players develop multiscreen offerings and new over-the-top providers enter the fray.

While this dynamic has applied new kinds of pressure on the multichannel universe and caused incumbent players to pivot and introduce new bundles and services, it’s a welcome development for companies like Ericsson, which is now poised to support providers that are pursuing any and all angles.

“In general, [the video opportunity] is broadening, and it’s gotten broader based on the acquisitions we’ve made,” Simon Frost, head of media marketing and communications at Ericsson, said, noting that the opportunity spans content owners that are going over-the-top, cable programmers and broadcasters, as well as more traditional multichannel video programming distributors. “We focus on all of them, but in different ways.”

Ericsson, which competes in this sector with other giants such as Cisco Systems and Arris, has shored up its multiscreen-video capabilities by pairing internal development with a string of recent acquisitions, keyed by its 2013 acquisition of Microsoft’s Mediaroom business.

“We’ve been building up the armory to come up with a sufficient next-generation set of technology platforms that enable a common set of needs,” Frost said.

A key need across the board is to be more like Netflix, hesaid — at least in terms of going with an operational model that’s a cloud-based and software-driven platform, enabling the service provider to make changes quickly, experiment more often and move away from rigid, old-school development cycles that might allow it to make a significant change once or twice a year.

“Everyone wants to be able to move at the speed of some of the new startups and become ultra-agile,” Frost said. “If you want to compete with Netflix, you have to be prepared to go that extra mile, and go to continual development models.”

While Mediaroom helped to expand Ericsson’s reach into the world of managed IPTV services, much of Ericsson’s focus moving forward will be on MediaFirst, a platform that’s more focused on the cloud and support for a wider range of devices.

Mediaroom “is a relevant, short-term solution,” Frost said. “But the energy is going into MediaFirst.”

Coming out of the earlier IPTV era, Mediaroom’s architecture largely relies on thick client set-tops and an interface that resides in the device. By comparison, MediaFirst’s premise is that every “client” is based in HTML5 and agnostic in terms of which device it’s connecting to, whether it’s an IP-based set-top, tablet, smartphone or PC.

Frost said Ericsson has several MediaFirst-facing deals in the queue, but so far has announced one trial, with Telus in Canada. One other possible candidate is AT&T, which uses Mediaroom today for U-verse TV but recently tapped Ericsson to help evolve its IPTV platform and the satellite-based one acquired in the merger with DirecTV.

While Ericsson will also try to secure MediaFirst deals with an emerging crop of OTT providers, the solution can also be applied to other traditional MVPD players, such as cable operators. Opportunities could come by way of MSOs that adopt the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-tops and gateways managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Time Warner Cable.

Ericsson is an RDK licensee — one of a group of about 150 that holds that distinction — and believes RDK can provide a foundation for MediaFirst.

“RDK is one of several different standardized environments that create a common platform for devices that operators can get some cost scale out of,” Frost said.

M&A PLAYS

Ericsson has built its video platform by pairing internal development with a string of recent acquisitions.

September 2015: Put up $125 million for multiscreen video processing specialist Envivio, a company that went public in 2012. The deal gives Ericsson increased exposure with some tier 1 service providers, including Comcast, Cox Communications, Liberty Global, Telstra, Sky and Time Warner Cable.

September 2015: Deepens its cloud DVR and video-on-demand expertise via $95 million acquisition of Israel-based Fabrix Systems, whose known customers include Cablevision Systems, which offers a network-based DVR product that lets customers record as many as 15 shows at once.

February 2014: Buys Azuki Systems, a startup that specializes in adaptive bit rate technology and content protection, enabling Ericsson to shore up its ability to support authenticated TV Everywhere services and OTT video.

September 2013: Closed acquisition of Microsoft’s Mediaroom business, a deal that, at the time, spanned IPTV systems and software that power video services in about 13 million homes and 24 million set-tops and customers such as AT&T U-verse, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica and Telus Optik TV.

SOURCE: Ericsson and Next TV research

Peter Mihan, an exec late of Ericsson and Microsoft, has been named assistant vice president of video product and sales at Frontier Communications.

He joins Frontier from Ericsson, where he spent the last two years driving TV/Media portfolio sales and business development initiatives with strategic network service providers in North America for clients that included Frontier. Before that, he spent nearly 19 years  at Microsoft in various enterprise sales, marketing and business development roles.

Mihan joined Microsoft’s Mediaroom division in 2005, responsible for selling the platform to tier 1 operators in North America. Ericsson acquired Mediaroom, an IPTV platform, from Microsoft in September 2013. Frontier currently uses Mediaroom to power its pay TV service in Connecticut. Frontier is also working with TiVo on a video product centered on TiVo’s Roamio OTA product that will be aimed at broadband-only subs.

“I’m thrilled to have Peter join the Frontier TV Product Management Team,” Stephen LeVan, Frontier’s SVP of video content and delivery, said in a statement. “ We have an enormous opportunity ahead of us to grow revenues, innovate our video portfolio (across multiple bandwidth profiles) and delight our customers in the process. Peter brings a wealth of experience in video deployments, architecture, marketing and sales and will drive Frontier Video Services to the next level."

Mihan holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and is based in New Haven, Conn.

CenturyLink has launched its IP-delivered Prism TV service to parts of Portland, Ore., where the telco will duke it out for video subs with Comcast and its X1 platform, as well as with DirecTV and Dish Network.

CenturyLink said Prism TV is currently available to Portland residents and businesses with fiber service in the Sunnyside, Hawthorne, Belmont, Richmond, Mt. Tabor, Kerns, Hosford-Abernethy, Creston-Kenilworth, Sellwood-Moreland, Buckman, Brooklyn and Laurelhurst neighborhoods, and has set up a Web site that allows customers to register and be notified when Prism TV is offered in their area. 

The Oregonian, which has created a map that tracks which portions of Portland are eligible for the fiber-fed service, noted that CenturyLink is also talking to local officials about expanding the service to Vancouver and Lake Oswego.

Prism TV features a wireless set-top box, whole-home DVR, access to a mobile TV Everywhere app, and VOD.

CenturyLink also offers IPTV services in La Crosse, Wis.; Columbia and Jefferson City, Mo.; Tallahassee, Fla. (and areas covering central and southwest Florida; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Omaha, Neb.; Denver, Colorado Springs, and Highlands Ranch, Colo.

CenturyLink added 8,000 Prism TV subs in the first quarter of 2015, ending the quarter with more than 249,000 -- a penetration rate of 10.2%. The company also added 73,000 homes to its addressable TV footprint in the quarter, expanding that total to 2.4 million.

CenturyLink expects to expand Prism TV to about 425,000 additional homes through the rest of 2015, company president and CEO Glen Post said on the company’s May 5 first quarter earnings call.

CenturyLink is currently using Ericsson Mediaroom (the IPTV platform Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in September 2013) to power Prism TV. The telco, however, is developing a next-gen video strategy, and, as part of that process, is evaluating the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-tops and gateways that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

Ericsson, the tech giant that has recently revamped its IP video platforms for service provider partners, said it will be cutting 2,200 jobs in Sweden, primarily in R&D and supply, as part of a cost-cutting program announced in November 2014.

The program, slated to run through 2017 on a global basis, is targeting structural improvements to R&D, service delivery and supply as the company pursues its primary areas of radio, core and transmission and telecom services. Ericsson also hopes the moves will create more efficiencies in sales, G&A, enable it to cut external costs tied to use of consultants, and push the consolidation of its IT portfolio.  Ericsson said the moves aim to cut annual costs by SEK 9 billion (US$1.1 billion) by 2017.

Ericsson employs about 115,000 people in 180 countries.

Ericsson recently added multiscreen capabilities and other upgrades to its Mediaroom platform, which Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in 2013, as well as MediaFirst, a new cloud-based, “software-defined” product for traditional pay-TV providers and new over-the-top players. Among recent wins, Windstream will tap Ericsson’s Mediaroom platform for “Kinetic,” a next-gen TV service that will initially be offered to more than 50,000 homes in Lincoln, Neb., in the first half of 2015.

Windstream unveiled plans to launch “Kinetic,” a next-gen TV service that will be powered by Ericsson’s Mediaroom platform and will initially be offered to more than 50,000 homes in Lincoln, Neb., in the first half of 2015.  

Windstream, which already offers a video service bundle through a partnership with Dish Network, will first bring Kinetic to a market served by incumbent cable operator Time Warner Cable, which is in the process of being acquired by Comcast.

Windstream said it plans to roll out Kinetic to other Windstream communities “in the latter part of 2015 and beyond,” noting that it will bundle video service with its high-speed Internet and phone services.

Windstream plans to continue its bundling partnership with Dish in all of its markets. “Within the Kinetic coverage area in Lincoln, customers will have a choice of both television service offerings from Windstream,” a Windstream official said via email.

Windstream hasn’t announced pricing for the coming Kinetic video service, but the company said it will feature wireless set-top boxes, a whole-home DVR (to be offered for no extra cost), multiscreen viewing (TVs, tablets, and  smartphones), video-on-demand, and a “MultiView” mosaic feature that will let viewers watch up to six channels on the TV at the same time.

“Our customers value advanced entertainment options and depend on us to develop next-generation technology that delivers an enhanced experience," said David Redmond, president of consumer services at Windstream, in a statement. “We’re extremely excited to roll out Kinetic in 2015 and beyond because we believe Kinetic represents more than just a great entertainment experience; it represents a stronger connection between Windstream and the communities we serve.”

The new service marks a nice win for Ericsson, which recently announced (subscription required) multiscreen capabilities and other upgrades to its Mediaroom platform (the image above is a sample of the new version of Mediaroom), which Ericsson acquired from Microsoft last year, as well as MediaFirst, a new cloud-based, “software-defined” product for traditional pay-TV providers and new over-the-top players.  

“We’re putting the gas back down on the Mediaroom platform,” Ben Huang, head of global marketing for Ericsson’s Mediaroom Business Group, said in a recent interview with Multichannel News.

When Ericsson closed its acquisition of the Mediaroom assets from Microsoft about a year ago, its video platforms were supporting about 13 million homes and 24 million set-tops. That has since grown to more than 17.5 million homes and 33 million set-tops, thanks to 76 commercial deployments across 30 countries, according to Huang.

One casualty in Ericsson’s process to shore up Mediaroom was Swisscom, which is moving away from Mediaroom in favor of a “TV 2.0” multiscreen product that will be based on the Android platform.

Ericsson is adding more cloud DVR and VOD assets and talent to its video roster through a $95 million acquisition of Israel-based Fabrix Systems.

Ericsson, which wrapped up its acquisition of Microsoft’s Mediaroom unit about a year ago and its purchase of Azuki Systems in February, said its latest buy will expand its multiscreen video portfolio.

Fabrix specializes in cloud storage and computing and network-based video delivery. One of its known customers is Cablevision Systems, which is using Fabrix to help power its network-based Multi-Room DVR product that now allows customers to record as many as 15 shows at once following a recent upgrade.

Fabrix has kept its wins close to the vest, but Mario Rainville, Fabrix’s VP of sales and marketing, told Multichannel News earlier this year that the company had “large deployments” with more than 10 tier-1 service providers in North America and Europe.

At this year’s NAB show in Las Vegas, Fabrix showed off targeted ad-insertion system tailored for cloud DVRs (subscription required) that utilized Fabrix’s software running on off-the-shelf servers and relied on an automated, programmatic-style ad-buying/selling model.  Febrix’s demo was run on a camaign-managmenet system from Videology.

Ericsson’s latest acquisition follows upgrades to its Mediaroom platform and a new MediaFirst offering that will be covered in more detail soon by Multichannel News.

“We are investing significantly across our TV platform and video-network areas to extend our market leadership position. Our Media Vision 2020 shows that traditional TV is shifting rapidly towards TV Anywhere and Ericsson's leadership in broadcast, video and networks places us in a unique position to enable the most demanding customers to define and deliver the future of TV,” Per Borgklint, SVP and head of business unit support solutions at Ericsson, said in a statement.

Ericsson said it expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter. Founded in 2006, Fabrix has 103 employees.