Distributor agreement of CloudTV™ H5 in Japan and the broader Asian Pacific region

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kuniharu Nakamura, "Sumitomo") is entering into a distributor agreement of CloudTV™ H5(*1) with ActiveVideo (Head Office：San Jose, California, President and CEO：Jeff Miller), prior to NCTA's The Cable Show 2013(*2) held from June 10 in Washington, D.C., the United States.

The cable TV industry is exposed to intense competition, as major telecommunication operators and Over The Top (OTT) distributors have entered the pay TV market. Under such competitive environment, cable TV operators are providing some ideas for improving user experience and creating new revenue sources to counter to the advanced services that competitors offer. However, because of the functional limitation of the Set Top Box ("STB") installed in each home, cable TV operators cannot be fully offering all the services which they consider.

CloudTV™ H5 is an innovative cloud-based software platform. By utilizing the state-of-the-art cloud technology and performing advanced processing on the server side, CloudTV™ H5 enables provision of latest value-added services such as advanced navigation, TV apps and targeted advertisements to any STB or broadband-connected device.
For cable TV subscribers, as they can enjoy the functions equivalent to those of the next-generation STB even while using the conventional one, they are expected to be more satisfied.
On the other hand, for cable TV operators, they can provide high value-added services independent of the manufacturer specifications of the STB. Therefore, they can reduce investment in equipment and service by making effective use of the STB already installed in each home.

Followed by this distributor agreement, Sumitomo will promote introduction of this solution and aim at offering to 1 million households at an early date in Japan and Asian Pacific countries.
For about 30 years since entering the media market in 1984, Sumitomo has worked to spread and expand its media business in Japan. In January 1995, Sumitomo established Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd. ("J:COM"), the very first MSO in Japan. Now, J:COM has become the largest MSO in Japan based on the number of customers served, and the total subscribing households as of April 30 2013 reached approximately 3.8 million.

Sumitomo announced that it will focus on developing its retail business in Asia, in its medium-term management plan for FY2013 through FY2014, "Be the Best, Be the One 2014." Sumitomo will also expand its media business into Asia with the foundation of the know-how accumulated over many years in the domestic market of Japan. Sumitomo will accelerate its media business development strategy and will contribute to the development of the media market in each country.

(*1)About The Cable Show 2013
The Cable Show is the largest annual cable TV convention and trade show, hosted by National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). In 2013, The Cable Show will be held in Washington, D.C. from June 10-12.
ActiveVideo will demonstrate the CloudTV™ H5 platform at their booth.

(*2)About CloudTV™ H5
CloudTV™ H5 has been already adopted in Europe and the U.S., such as Ziggo N.V., the largest operator in Netherlands, Cablevision Systems Corporation, a major U.S. cable TV operator, and Time Warner Oceanic.
In addition, Comcast Corporation, the largest operator in U.S. is also demonstrating a field trial for adoption and Charter Communications, another major U.S. cable TV operator, has said that they will begin a market trial of CloudTV™ H5. This indicates that the U.S. cable TV industry which is leading the world market has already shifted to the adoption of cloud-based services.
CloudTV™ H5 also is on Philips NetTVs in the United States, and will be on Roku boxes beginning this summer.

【Reference Information】
■Overview of CloudTV™ H5 Architecture:
The CloudTV™ H5 software platform combines the power of HTML5 with the Cloud to deliver advanced User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) to any generation of STB, PC, Tablets, Smartphones and Connected TVs as a personalized, adaptive video stream.