Altice’s Zive SVOD launching internationally

Altice plans to launch its subscription video-on-demand service Zive in all markets in which it is present.

The cable and telecom company is working with Cisco to provide the technology base for Zive, and the technology company revealed in a release at CES that the service, currently available via SFR in France, will soon be offered across Altice’s international markets.

Altice recently closed the acquisition of US number seven cable operator Suddenlink and is in the process of acquiring Cablevision. Its other international assets include Portugal Telecom and Israel’s Hot. It also has a presence in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Zive can be viewed from a variety of devices and offers a broad category mix of morethan 5,000 HD shows available, with plans in place to grow this to 15,000 by the end of 2016. Zive includes a catalogue of over 400 4K/ultra HD programmes across kids, movies, sports, and other genres.

The service was launched on SFR’s network in November via the group’s new 4K UHD gateway, La Box Fibre Zive, with multiscreen capabilities, eight tuners, and a 500GB hard drive to record programmes.

Altice has deployed Cisco’s cBR-8 converged broadband router to deliver the service, while Cisco DCN technologies are helping it deliver storage, delivery and picture quality of 4K video.

Content partners for the French offering include Disney, Viacom, Sony Pictures Television, Lagardère and France Télévisions.

“We committed to evolve our architecture to deliver the best possible customer experience for our subscribers. We were aligned closely with Cisco from the start on the approach to integrate video and mobile components, and 4K content, like no one else has,” said Max Blumberg, CTO, Altice Group.

“Altice was focused on innovation, and never lost sight of its goals to meet demand forfaster broadband at gigabit speeds,” said Yves Padrines, vice president, Global Service Provider, Cisco EMEAR.

“Our work together over the course of 10 years has marked many firsts with video and broadband entertainment services, and we are proud to add the first 4K SVOD service to the list.”