AFC tabs iMagicTV for video software

(Telephony) Advance Fibre Communications said it has signed a licensing and co-marketing agreement with iMagicTV that will allow carriers to deliver cable TV and interactive media services.

Under the terms of the agreement, AFC will purchase and license iMagicTV's DTV Manager software and begin interoperability testing with its UMS1000 Integrated Multiservice Access Platform. The deal also includes co-marketing and sales agreements under which AFC will sell an integrated package to its customer base, which includes a number of independent telcos.

iMagic, which has equity investments from industry heavyweights such as Cisco Systems, America Online and Alcatel, traditionally has pursued the largest carriers and currently has nine customers at least in the lab testing phase.

“One significant part of the relationship with AFC is the ability to address the smaller independent market,” said Marcel LeBrun, president and CEO of iMagicTV. “AFC has a strong position with independents. It’s not an OEM relationship. It’s a relationship where we’re doing interoperability where we’ll work seamlessly together and where the business case works together.”

Using the company’s software, which lets carriers offer pay-per-view, video-on-demand and Web-based content over broadband networks, LeBrun said telcos can effectively double the amount of average revenue per user.

“We help them do it in a way that is standards based,” said LeBrun. “It also means they can build on top of our platform their own solutions.”