Canal+ Technologies and nCUBE Announce End-to-End VOD Solution; WINfirst is First Customer to Deploy.

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO & CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2001

Canal+ Technologies, Inc., the North American interactive television software arm of Canal+ Group, the TV & Film division of Vivendi-Universal, and nCUBE Corporation today announced they will market an end-to-end pre-integrated video-on-demand (VOD) solution to broadband service operators through a cooperative partnership.

WINfirst, an innovative fiber-to-the-home full-service provider of voice, video and data services, is the first announced customer using the solution to deliver interactive television services in the United States.

Canal+ Technologies and nCUBE will integrate nCUBE's n4 Streaming Media Appliance, nABLE Interactive Management Platform, and e-commerce on demand application server with the Canal+ Technologies MediaHighway(TM) middleware platform and MediaGuard(TM) conditional access system. The pre-integrated VOD solution will enable broadband service operators to offer subscribers the ability to select movies or other content from the on-demand programmer of their choice through an on-screen catalog and enjoy real-time VCR-like features including pause, rewind and fast-forward.

"Canal+ Technologies is a leading iTV player throughout the world," said Michael Pohl, president of nCUBE. "We are delighted to participate with Canal+ Technologies in deploying its interactive TV middleware MediaHighway and conditional access system, MediaGuard. nCUBE is committed to providing operators a highly scalable and cost effective means to bringing VOD to their subscribers."

"This partnership with nCUBE has already provided the North American market with a Java(TM) based content-on-demand architecture for WINfirst, which we consider a milestone for open-systems iTV in the U.S.," said David Moss, president and CEO of Canal + Technologies, Inc. "We look forward to more successes with this partnership, which we believe provides true value to both content providers and network operators committed to deploying interactive television."

nCUBE's n4 Streaming Media Appliance leads the market in both of the areas that matter most to broadband service providers: throughput and scalability. nCUBE's unique hypercube interconnect architecture provides unmatched scalability, reliability and flexibility for applications such as broadband VOD and network personal video recording (nPVR). The nABLE Interactive Management Platform manages all of the systems and operations that comprise the nCUBE VOD system. nABLE manages stream control, bandwidth allocation, asset management and content distribution.

More than 11.5 million digital set-top boxes powered with the MediaHighway middleware developed by Canal+ Technologies are currently available internationally. MediaHighway is a leading open standards-based middleware solution for iTV. Its flexible design allows it to function independently from the operating system and hardware platform chosen by the set-top box manufacturer. The MediaGuard conditional access system enables operators to manage the control and delivery of pay-TV content and provides a secure platform for t-commerce transactions.

About Canal+ Technologies

A member of the Vivendi-Universal family, Canal+ Technologies, S.A. is a leading international provider of digital and interactive TV software solutions with more than 11.5 million set-top boxes powered by its software. Over 20 digital operators and broadcasters worldwide have deployed its interactive TV middleware MediaHighway, and conditional access system, MediaGuard. Today, more than 30 tested and/or deployed applications are being used by WINfirst in the U.S., CANALSATELLITE in France, ITV Digital in the U.K., Astro Measat and ZeeTV in Asia, and Orbit in the Middle-East to deliver true interactive applications that are changing the perception of what the consumers can expect of TV. Sun Microsystems, Sony, Thomson multimedia, and Sogecable are equity and strategic partners in Canal+ Technologies. The U.S. subsidiary, Canal+ Technologies, Inc., is headquartered in Cupertino, California. For more information, visit www.canalplus-technologies.com.

About nCUBE

nCUBE (www.nCUBE.com) provides scalable streaming media solutions to all broadband networks. Broadband operators worldwide count on nCUBE to provide solutions for broadband video-on-demand, IP streaming media and advertising insertion.

The company's core product line, the n4 streaming media appliance, can scale from 100 megabits per second to 128 gigabits per second of streaming media from a single system. nCUBE systems are used by today's leading interactive television companies. nCUBE's distinguished customer and partner list includes: Alcatel, AT&T, Bertelsmann, Enron Broadband Services, Cisco Systems, Charter Communications, Gemstar-TV Guide, Liberate, Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta, RealNetworks, Telewest Communications and Time Warner. nCUBE is a contributing member of numerous industry forums and standards bodies including the ISO/IEC MPEG committee, Digital Video Broadcasting, Society of Cable Television Engineers and Internet Engineering Task Force. The company is based in Foster City, Calif., with sales and customer support offices in Colorado, Oregon, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and China.