OREANDA-NEWS. Sumitomo Corporation is entering into a distributor agreement of CloudTV™ H5 with ActiveVideo, prior to NCTA's The Cable Show 2013(*2) held from June 10 in Washington, D.C., the United States.

The cable TV industry is exposed to intense competition, as major telecommunication operators and Over The Top (OTT) distributors have entered the pay TV market. Under such competitive environment, cable TV operators are providing some ideas for improving user experience and creating new revenue sources to counter to the advanced services that competitors offer. However, because of the functional limitation of the Set Top Box ("STB") installed in each home, cable TV operators cannot be fully offering all the services which they consider.

CloudTV™ H5 is an innovative cloud-based software platform. By utilizing the state-of-the-art cloud technology and performing advanced processing on the server side, CloudTV™ H5 enables provision of latest value-added services such as advanced navigation, TV apps and targeted advertisements to any STB or broadband-connected device.

For cable TV subscribers, as they can enjoy the functions equivalent to those of the next-generation STB even while using the conventional one, they are expected to be more satisfied.

On the other hand, for cable TV operators, they can provide high value-added services independent of the manufacturer specifications of the STB. Therefore, they can reduce investment in equipment and service by making effective use of the STB already installed in each home.

Sumitomo announced that it will focus on developing its retail business in Asia, in its medium-term management plan for FY2013 through FY2014, "Be the Best, Be the One 2014."  Sumitomo will also expand its media business into Asia with the foundation of the know-how accumulated over many years in the domestic market of Japan. Sumitomo will accelerate its media business development strategy and will contribute to the development of the media market in each country.