NetRange And IK World Partner On STBs In Latin America And Southeast Asia

NetRange MMH, a global provider of white-labelled, turnkey smart TV and OTT ecosystems, has partnered with IK World, a Chinese OTT Set-Top Box (STB) ODM. This collaboration provides IK World with a combination of ACCESS’s NetFront Browser BE and NetRange’s NetRange Smart STB App Store on AOSP. This solution lets IK World offer rich and legally proven content to users in markets including Latin America and Southeast Asia.

The partnership also incorporates NetRange’s cloud-based ad delivery solution to provide IK World with an alternative source of revenue generation. NetRange and its ready-built solution is designed for STB manufacturers that deal with extremely tight production deadlines. The NetRange portal can be used for all connected devices, including STBs, to meet the increasing demand for content.

The NetRange Smart STB App Store solution gives IK World and its customers access to a pioneering, feature-rich ecosystem that includes global media content. Its users can access leading international premium VoD applications, sports content, games, news apps, and linear TV channels through hundreds of apps from over 100 countries. NetRange said the collaboration lets IK World “offer STB and other CE device manufacturers and their retailers with world-class, legally-sound content at a cost-efficient price.”

“Our number one priority is to ensure that the content we provide to STB manufactures is of the highest quality and without copyright infringement,” said Yi Hua Sheng, product director, IK World. “NetRange’s experience and strong relationships with global content providers make it the perfect partner to help us support our customers and ensure that all their app content is legal. NetRange, backed by publicly listed parent company ACCESS, also provides our company with a flexible business model that was vital in helping IK World to negotiate the challenging COVID-19 situation.”

The HTML5 cloud-based OTT Smart TV Portal supports automatic server-side software upgrades from NetRange, eliminating the need for OTA upgrades from the mainboard. The portal can now be customised without additional support from chipset providers or ODM firmware, creating significant cost and time efficiencies for IK World and its customers without impacting the consumer experience.

“We’re extremely proud of our new cooperation with IK World and delivering the first hybrid Android AOSP App Store with the ACCESS NetFront Browser BE for STBs,” says Shinji Hoshino, VP of web platform business unit, ACCESS. “This partnership is a significant milestone for NetRange as it directly supports our strategy to expand further into the global STB market. We look forward to helping more STB ODMs to thrive through our strong portfolio of rich and legally-sourced content.”

The combination of the NetRange Portal and ACCESS NetFront Browser BE, the company said, “offers IK World and other STB customers a cost-effective solution that can quickly achieve software configuration and portal design to meet project deadlines in the shortest possible time. Collaboration between the two teams enables any issues to be identified and fixed from the portal and browser. Together they create and execute an exceptional and highly efficient service that delivers top levels of customer satisfaction.”