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STMicroelectronics' System-on-Chip Powers 100% of Digital Terrestrial TV Set-Top Boxes for Italian Broadcaster Mediaset's Trial |
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Geneva, November 13, 2003 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), the world's number one supplier of set-top box (STB) chips and the industry's long-term leader in MPEG-2 decoders, announced today that its System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated circuits for digital STBs are the pivotal components in the ongoing field trials for the Italian digital terrestrial TV market. As the trials continue, by Mediaset, one of Italy's largest broadcasters, 100% of the deployable STBs are using ST's STi5517 MPEG decoder IC. In September 2003, Mediaset began trial broadcasts of a DVB-MHP (Digital Video Broadcasting - Multimedia Home Platform) service. Several manufacturers responded to the challenge of designing an STB for this market and all selected the STi5517 as the MPEG decoder. Digital terrestrial set-top box shipments, from all broadcasters in Italy for 2004, are estimated to reach approximately three million units. The MPEG decoder plays an integral part in an STB by decoding the broadcast digital video stream and converting it into a signal that can be displayed on a television set. ST is the established leader in this market and, since 1995 when the first ST decoder ICs were produced, has now deployed a total of well over 100 million MPEG decoders to manufacturers of STBs, DVD players and Digital Video Recorders. "Our interactive service had to meet two apparently conflicting requirements," said Alberto Sigismondi, Director of Strategic Marketing at Mediaset. "Firstly, we had to provide an innovative and compelling service to our customers, including all the obligatory T-government services. Secondly, we needed to deliver a cost effective platform through the retail channel on which to run it. The combination of the STi5517 SoC and the DVB-MHP software meets both of these requirements without the need for any compromises." The STi5517 is the latest addition to ST's family of OMEGA STB decoders. It combines many of the components of a digital STB into a single device, ensuring the lowest possible bill of materials for STB manufacturers. "The STi5517 decoder was designed to support open standard middleware such as DVB-MHP and OCAP," said Armando Caltabiano, Director of the Satellite & Terrestrial Business Unit of ST's Set-Top Box Division. "We are proud to be one of Mediaset's primary technology partners for the deployment of digital terrestrial TV technology in Italy." The STi5517 can be used in terrestrial, cable or satellite STBs. With an appropriate front-end device, ST's software drivers support all the demodulation schemes, allowing manufacturers to design a DVB-MHP platform that is independent of the delivery method and so equally applicable to all markets. About Multimedia Home Platform (DVB-MHP) The Multimedia Home Platform, or DVB-MHP (ETSI - TS101-812), defines a generic interface between interactive digital applications and the terminals on which those applications execute. This interface decouples different provider's applications from the specific hardware and software details of different MHP terminal implementations. It enables digital content providers to address all types of terminals ranging from low-end to high-end set-top boxes, integrated digital TV sets and multimedia PCs. The MHP extends the existing, successful DVB open standards for broadcast and interactive services in all transmission networks including satellite, cable, terrestrial, and microwave systems. Further information is available at www.mhp.org. About STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2002, the Company's net revenues were $6.32 billion and net earnings were $429.4 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com. |
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