RDK Management believe there are currently “dramatically more” than 25 million devices worldwide running RDK software solutions deployed by operators.
Speaking in a one-on-one interview at the Connected TV World Summit, Steve Heeb, president and general manager of RDK Management, added that the 25 million figure was for RDK-V (video) and RDK-B (broadband) combined and that there are now over 300 technology companies involved in the ecosystem.
In the past year, new RDK deployments have been announced in Switzerland, Germany, Portugal and North America (US and Canada).
Heeb said that RDK is important for operators because for the first time they can control the software and business model. It also allows them to provide products at a much faster rate than previously.
Asked if RDK was a competitor to Android, he said that he saw it as an alternative. However, he would like to see an app platform with Android on top.
Heeb also participated in a panel discussion entitled What you can achieve with RDK, and what happens next. In the discussion, Pedro Bandeira, director product development, NOS Portugal, said that RDK had both hardware and software advantage.
While the former had created a level playing field, moving from one STB to another, the latter had given NOS flexibility to be quick to react. Indeed, since last June it had been able to update its software almost 10 times.
Bandeira also said NOS expects to launch a full IP set-top box based on RDK, by 2018.
Meanwhile, Fraser Stirling, SVP of Devices and A&I at Comcast, said when discussing convergence that video will be the killer app on broadband and RDK-B will be the main focus for Comcast.
Olivier Philippe, VP entertainment technology, Liberty Global, said that the company had already deployed RDK in Central and Eastern Europe.
On the other hand, Christian Constant, VP, product development entertainment, Vodafone Germany, revealed that he had expecting some dramas around RDK but they had not materialised.
