eWAN1, Inc. has ramped up manufacturing and production capacity of its triple-play Digital Set-Top Boxes to one million units for the next 12 months. The company is preparing for a boost in subscribers for its IPTV (News - Alert) service in the Middle East and North African regions.

 

The company projects those areas will have more than 41 million multi-channel television homes by 2010, and that 68 percent of those will be connected to cable and satellite television. The company’s Triple Play Digital Media Center connects directly to television sets to enable IPTV viewing as well as video-on-demand for movies and documentaries. It also offers traditional Internet access, telephone service using VoIP and data and video capability including video conferencing.

 

The boxes offer a new IPTV cache which features music channels with audio and corresponding video if available, as well as time shift services like the ability to record one program while watching another. eWAN’s set-top box is pre-bundled with a monthly subscription to the company’s new Global Internet Television service, which is scheduled to launch on April 19th, and will enable subscribers able to access local TV stations as well as eWAN's initial 75 channels of "Ala Carte" traditional broadcast television and content. Offerings are delivered in 36 major languages and are available anywhere on the planet.

 

"In my 20-plus years of telecommunications experience I have never seen such a vibrant marketplace as is emerging in the Middle East,” said Scott Kettle, eWAN's president. “I personally covered every exhibit at this very important exposition, and I saw no other IPTV service provider representation, convincing me that eWAN will be the 'first-to-market' global IPTV network, certainly the first in the region."

 

"While we are comfortable with our sales projections for our bundled 'triple Play' box and IPTV service through the end of 2006, the Company is in the midst of negotiations with a number of parties which could result in the Company exceeding its combined box and service sales projections by a wide margin,” said Kettle. “Considering our pre-launch orders and indications and the recent discussions, including those initiated in Dubai, we have decided to ratchet up our pre-launch production capabilities as a precautionary measure in the event that our initial projections significantly underestimated worldwide demand for our IPTV service."

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