SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company, has announced today that its interactive BLUCOM service has been awarded Product of the Year 2006 by the renowned European technology magazine Cable & Satellite International. The award is granted annually at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam. BLUCOM was nominated in the category best playout/connectivity/service/solution, one out of 16 categories. The Cable & Satellite International awards are one of the most prestigious technology awards internationally. With more than 1,000 exhibitors, the IBC is one of the most important trade shows in the areas of digital consumer electronics, broadcast and media.
The innovative interactive BLUCOM technology is already used by several German TV and radio channels. BLUCOM supports services like program guides, weather and sports information and other added value services. Furthermore, it enables voting, downloads, advertising, chats and transaction television, thus allowing the consumer to interact directly with the program. The mobile phone with its SMS functionality is used as a return path. As BLUCOM can be received via a set-top box as well as via UMTS/GPRS, virtually every household be it cable, satellite or terrestrial can use the service. BLUCOM has been developed by the SES ASTRA affiliate ASTRA Platform Services (APS) in Germany.