Huawei to Provide 4K UHD Platform for Altibox

Altibox, in cooperation with Huawei, will roll out its new television solution with 4K UHD as standard

[Oslo, Norway, December 19, 2016] Huawei will provide both the new TV platform as well as decoders for Norwegian operator Altibox. This is the first time that a complete 4K capable entertainment platform will be delivered by a single supplier anywhere in the world.

UHD and HDR generates a rich dynamic range of colors that make images more natural and lifelike. In addition, a higher frame rate of up to 60 frames per second means that even faster moving images are reproduced more realistically. Altogether, this gives the customer a much better viewing experience. The viewer of 4K content can choose to sit closer to the television or watch on a larger screen, and in both cases, the viewer can experience more detail than any standard full HDTV is able to offer.

“Broadcasting the best UHD images requires tremendous transmission capacity. In practice, it is only possible to do this on the best fiber networks. You can transfer 4K images via satellite, however, a transfer of the highest quality demands so much of the satellite transponder capacity that the costs could be enormous. In addition, satellite customers share in one stream, in the same way as in linear television, says Øyvind Lundbakk, Product Director at Altibox.

“This is a historic moment, not only for Altibox, but also for Huawei. In fact, this is the first 4K service launch in the industry for Huawei in Europe. We are very happy to bring a superior entertainment experience to the Norwegian people together with Altibox,” said Eric Zhang, CEO of Huawei Norway.

With gigabit infrastructure and end-to-end fiber networks, Altibox may offer one-to-one transfer of UHD content. The customer can easily pause, start over and record from 4K channels.

The recordings are stored safely in Altibox’s data center in Green Mountain at Rennesøy, Norway. The new television solution from Altibox eliminates the need for a decoder with a hard disk. With the new system, the customers can store 500 hours of recording in the cloud from any channel.

Altibox will connect its first customers with 4K UHD in March 2017.