Poland’s Toya highlights hybrid VOD service

Polish cable operator Toya and conditional access provider Conax used ANGA yesterday to highlight the former’s recently launched hybrid cable/over-the-top service.

Toya has deployed the service to about 5,000 Intec Digital-supplied set-tops using middleware from Cubiware and Conax Contego conditional access. The operator is delivering a series of interactive widget-based applications as well as over-the-top on-demand content from Ipla, the Hulu-like online catch-up service launched by commercial broadcaster Polsat. 

The first of the Intec boxes were delivered in November last year, according to Szymon Karbowski, Toya’s research and development director. The company has about 45,000 digital customers overall, with its digital service initially based on the Iwedia platform.

For now, Toya is delivering free-to-air content from Ipla on the Intec boxes, which are the first set-top boxes in the Polish market to offer the service (Ipla is also available via PCs and Android, Symbian and iOS-based devices). The Polsat-owned portal is also starting to build up a library of pay content from Hollywood studios and is contemplating the introduction of a pre-broadcast pay window for some of its content, and Karbowski said Toya was following these developments closely with a view to adding them to its own service.

Other applications on the Toya platform include access to Allegro, the Polish version of eBay, as well as content from popular portals including TVN-owned portal Onet.pl and Wirtualna Polska. Karbowski said Toya was also speaking with the Polish public broadcaster about adding content from it to the platform.