Ncube Corp, the digital video server company that has Oracle Corp’s chief Larry Ellison as its chairman and CEO, has won a contract from Yes Television Ltd that will see its servers deployed to run Europe’s first commercial Video-on-Demand television service. Ncube’s MediaCube video servers is being used as part of the Kingston Interactive Television (KIT) system in Hull, which brought 1,500 initial subscribers online earlier this month. A phased roll-out to 155,000 additional residential customers is planned. The KIT system uses an ADSL network at 4 Mbps, and claims cinema-quality video and audio.
Ncube has also been selected by Telewest Plc for its video on demand trials, and says it is gearing up for some further announcements in the next few weeks. Ncube merged with SkyConnect Inc, a company specializing in digital ad insertion applications, earlier this year. Yes Television, based in Cardiff, is owned and operated by Elmsdale Media Ltd.
