In politics it would be called the mid-term blues, but ADB is determined to show its reorganisation has set it up for the future. Julian Clover reports.
As if it wasn’t already obvious, it’s not much fun when you’re just a set-top box manufacturer, or developer, as one of them has told me to say. Pace, Netgem and ADB have all branched out from the set-top world. Others are taking a similar course.
Software is usually at the heart of the plan, be it for the set-top itself, or something further down the network. It doesn’t always work out as Pace found with its Networks business. ADB too has been through a bit of a wobble following the integration of the former Pirelli broadband division.
This week the company set out to prove it was once more moving forward. Bill Luehrs, the group’s chief administrative officer who also looks after ADB’s emerging markets business, was confident that the company was becoming “more and more dynamic”. He admitted ADB was going through a major transformation, but one that would make it even more relevant.
One of the key parts of the Pirelli acquisition was that of remote management, as Luehrs put it the ability to control what’s in the pipe, its quality of service and get sufficient value out of the investment. Through its Carbo interface, now deployed by ten customers worldwide, ADB had already placed a flag in this area.
It also leads towards the sort of connectivity ADB has put in place for n, the Polish DTH platform, which launched into an already competitive market. It has used technology as its driver, now offering an HD PVR as standard, as using ADB know-how to network between receivers.
Krysztof Bilinski, general manager of the broadcast division, said ADB was more focused on enabling the customer to access their own video content from around the house, rather than making additional OTT purchases (though that of course is also available).
Given the choice between wired and wireless, it seems the Polish consumer prefers the wired route, either through Powerline or just as likely old fashioned CAT-5 cable. The connected TV it seems has to be just that.
Bilinski’s responsibilities do not extend to terrestrial and have been integrated with the IPTV business unit in Italy, where the majority of the DTT-based business is conducted. ADB decided to scale down most of its retail and digital terrestrial business. In particular, ADB’s entry in the UK DVB-T2 retail market didn’t meet original expectations, as explained by Véronique Malan, vice president, strategic marketing. It is now well documented that those who have bought DVB-T2 product in the UK did so either as part of a PVR upgrade or because they were buying a new television anyway.
No room for ADB’s i-can DTT receiver and lovable robot, even if it did come with one of the better ways of accessing the iPlayer, consumer surveys having told the manufacturer that there was a lack of HD content. With a more successful DTT business in Italy, a UK launch wasn’t too much of a leap, even if it goes against the dictum that says larger, more adventurous, developers shouldn’t play with retail.
