London, UK (Booth #57, IPTV World Forum), March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Espial(R) IPTV (http://www.espial.com/), a leading provider of IPTV middleware and applications, has achieved an important company milestone by surpassing one million subscriber unit shipments for its Evo(R) family of IPTV products. This milestone, which re-enforces the company's leadership in the IPTV market, was achieved during a break-out year for Espial in 2006, which saw the company ship over 750,000 Evo subscriber licenses to operator customers and partners around the globe.

Espial's flagship Evo IPTV Service Platform product family, which includes Evo Client middleware, various data-driven applications including Evo EPG, Evo VOD, Evo DVR, Evo Browser and Evo BML, the carrier-grade Evo Server, and the open Evo Future-Proof Framework(TM), has enjoyed widespread acceptance as a more open, modular, scalable and faster alternative to the first-generation and more monolithic solutions on the market.

Espial's IPTV deployments build on the company's expertise in the hospitality and interactive video markets, where the company has another two million units in use by customers such as LodgeNet and On Command, and global automotive and consumer electronics manufacturers. Over the years, Espial has become a trusted partner for understanding embedded devices, interactive applications, user interfaces and EPGs, open ecosystems, and various other video technologies that constitute an extremely scalable, carrier-grade IPTV service platform. Espial's Evo has also been ported to over twenty different set-top box platforms, making it one of the most ported and flexible middleware solutions available today.

"We are very proud of the one million IPTV subscriber milestone for our Evo IPTV middleware and applications. This truly demonstrates Espial's leadership in the IPTV market and is a testament to the scalable technologies and ease of integration of Espial's modular IPTV solutions," said Jaison Dolvane, Espial's Founder, President and CEO. "Working together with our ecosystem and channel partners, we have created integrated carrier-grade IPTV solutions to help our customers worldwide successfully deploy differentiated video & converged services to their subscribers."

Other 2006 Espial highlights include: - Recognized by ABI Research as the #1 IPTV Client Middleware - Named Internet Telephony's "Product of the Year" - Listed with the "Deloitte Fast 500" fastest growing companies - Launched Evo Server, the carrier-grade head-end IPTV middleware platform that was adopted by UPC Sweden (acquired by Com Hem) and Auroras Entertainment (now Avail Media) - Added to a world-class management team by hiring Dave Williamson as VP Sales, Bob Daly as CFO, and Brian Mahony as VP Marketing

At the IPTV World Forum in London this week, Espial is showcasing Evo and promoting a new white paper on IPTV Total Cost of Ownership that explains the role middleware plays in reducing the CAPEX and OPEX of IPTV service deployments. This paper will be sent to qualified professionals by emailing mdundas@espial.com. Espial is also promoting the newly launched "IPTV Channel", in partnership with other leading IPTV vendors and hosted by technology media leader TMC. This news and analysis portal on topics of importance to the IPTV industry is located at http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/iptv.

ABOUT ESPIAL IPTV (http://www.espial.com/)

Espial provides IPTV middleware and applications that are modular, fully skinnable, turbo-fast, and truly open. Espial's Evo(R) IPTV Service Platform, which can be purchased as best-of-breed components or as part of a pre-integrated client-server solution, includes Evo(R) Client, Evo(R) Server, Evo Future-Proof Framework(TM) (FPF), Evo SkinTones(TM) and applications such as Electronic Program Guide, Video on Demand, Content Portal, Games, Triple Play, and Evo Browser. Espial products have been integrated with or deployed by more than 100 vendors and operators including UPC Sweden/Comhem, Avail Media, Siemens/Myrio, Dasan, Belgacom, Motorola, Sumitomo, Amino, Thomson, Philips, Tilgin, LodgeNet, On Command and S-Net Systems.

CONTACT: Meredith Dundas, Espial IPTV, (613) 769-8466,
mdundas@espial.com