Slovenia's Telekom Slovenije has selected set-top boxes and middleware from French firm Netgem as part of its plans to upgrade the legacy infrastructure for its IPTV service 'SiOL TV'.

From September 1st, the telco will use Netgem's intelligent client solution to roll out tailored applications to customers, building upon its existing bouquet of entertainment services.  Netgem is also working with Planet9, Telekom Slovenije's multimedia and systems integration subsidiary, to launch a new service called 'SiOL iO', which will seamlessly blend broadcast, Web and mobile content within a single, branded user experience.

Initial applications for the new service will include an online radio portal, weather news channel, live sports scores, Facebook access, news channel SiOL.net, and an innovative new application that enables subscribers to publish video shot on their mobile phone or webcam, and share it using their living room television.

The telco's existing IPTV service was launched in 2003, and is based on set-top boxes from Sagem, content protection from Verimatrix, and Skystream's Mediaplex-20 platform.  Telekom Slovenije reports that it currently has around 120,000 IPTV subscribers, up from 105,000 at the end of September 2009, representing around half of its broadband customer base.

“Our previous server-based platform did not offer the capability to support our vision moving forward, we needed to future-proof our IPTV services and since digital switchover is approaching it seemed the right time to make the upgrade," said Simon Furlan, Marketing Director of Telekom Slovenije.  "Netgem’s hybrid technology slotted directly into our existing infrastructure, and also negated the need for costly reinvestment.”