Vision247 acquires Fora in €2m deal, expands global telco broadcast offering with Perception

• Launches Perception®, telco grade IPTV network platform, to global market

• Gregor Fuis appointed to new role as Chief Executive Officer, Fora

• Expansion of Fora R&D and T-2 facilities in Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Introduces Cloud based PVR and Catch-up TV capability for legacy connected devices 

London based broadcast specialist Vision247, has privately acquired Fora, a Slovenian IPTV software solutions company in a deal valued at more than €2 million. The acquisition expands Vision247’s leading role as a provider of over the top (OTT) internet delivered television services to incorporate triple and quad play models for large telecom operators globally.

Fora, an established provider of IPTV software solutions and services in Europe, developed Perception®. This innovative, proven, telco IPTV platform delivers unique high performance video on demand, network personal video recording (PVR) and Time Shift systems, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) servers, set top box and mobile client applications for key mobile operating systems including iOS and Android. 

For users this translates into a complete interactive multimedia experience, incorporating IPTV and IP radio streams, video on demand, sharing and PVR, even accessing shows missed from the Cloud if a device does not support recording. Watch on a smartTV, PC, or on a mobile device; upload, manage and share photos, music and documents and choose useful widgets to deliver local information on multiscreen.

As part of the acquisition process Vision247 will invest in an expansion of Fora’s R&D and T-2 support facility in Slovenia, as well as integrating front end development of the Perception and XtremeIPTV™ platforms, enabling integration of Perception’s Cloud based PVR and catch up capability for legacy connected devices. Vision247 will expand content management capabilities within Perception through the integration of its SuperVision™ and LiveTranscoder™ products, and extend support for Samsung smartTVs, Roku streaming players and GoogleTV during Q1 2013. 

Matt Vidmar, Chairman & CTO, Vision247 said: “Fora has the highest expertise and synergy with our own service offering in the broadcast market. Together the Fora Perception platform and Vision247’s award winning XtremeIPTV platform enables us to cover every segment of the broadcast industry, from OTT to telco IPTV packages, then strengthen these offerings for customers with our additional expertise in content acquisition and 24/7 playout management.”  

Gregor Fuis, Chief Executive Officer, Fora said: “With Perception, we have an innovative multi-screen concept for convergence of content to TV, mobile and PC devices. The design has been proven for large telco networks and internet service providers, and we now look forward to working closely with our colleagues at Vision247 to further enhance the platform and deliver television to viewers around the globe, no matter the connected device they are watching on.”

Vision247 is actively pursuing the roll out of Perception in India, China, the Middle East and Africa and throughout the European market.

About Vision247

First to market in the provision of functional internet delivered broadcast, Vision247 provides a complete solution to clients wanting to create compelling TV and video services for connected audiences worldwide. The Vision IPTV platform can be customised for clients and supports all current commercial models from subscription, pay-as-you-go to PPV and advertiser funded. www.vision247.com