* OpVista joins EuroCableLabs
OpVista has joined the Associate Supporter Program of EuroCableLabs. That program, launched by EuroCableLabs in 2005, gives vendors the opportunity to participate in annual forums, workshops, technical demonstrations, and emerging technology research associated with the cable industry in Europe. OpVista’s products, which are compatible with DWDM systems and fiber plant, are used to boost metro and regional network capacity.
* NBC Universal hires financial team for VOD
NBC Universal hired Jeff Fleeher to be vice president and chief financial officer for NBCU TV Networks Distribution and NBCU Digital Distribution. Fleeher will oversee NBCU’s financials for the affiliate sales and marketing operations, as well as digital distribution businesses, including VOD, electronic sell-through (EST), and wireless.
Fleeher joins NBCU from the GE Corporate Audit Staff, where he previously held the position of Senior Audit Manager. At the same time, Eddie Gollhofer, who had been manager, Accounting Projects for NBCU, was promoted to NBCU finance manager, Digital Distribution, reporting to Fleeher.
* Alticast hires iTV industry exec
Alticast hired iTV vet Anthony Smith-Chaigneau as its new senior vice president of business development for EMEA and managing director of Alticast GmbH. Alticast deploys MHP and OCAP solutions to the digital broadcasting industry.
* Eyeball announces firewall, NAT specs
Eyeball, a VoIP call completion company, announced firewall and NAT traversal support for the CableLabs PacketCable 2.0 specifications. Eyeball said its AnyFirewall Engine, a software development kit (SDK), enables cable vendors to integrate firewall and NAT traversal into PacketCable-based applications, services and devices.
CableLabs, a non-profit R&D group, has incorporated interactive connectivity establishment (ICE) support into the PacketCable 2.0 specs.
ICE – developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – enables VoIP applications and devices to complete calls through firewalls and NATs.
The AnyFirewall Engine ICE SDK is available today for licensing and deployment, the company said.
* Gotuit Media adds two new execs
Gotuit Media announced the addition of David Leibowitz and Dan Gill to its executive team.
Liebowitz and Gill were brought on board to develop partnerships and to drive adoption for the Gotuit Media Platform, which uses video-segment level metadata to index VOD content.
Leibowitz was formerly the executive vice president and general counsel of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He also served as chairman and co-founder of Verance. Leibowitz will continue his role as managing partner for CH Potomac, where he works as a senior advisor for a number of companies including Motorola, Gibson Guitar and FAST. He served as a senior advisor to Gotuit prior to joining the company.
Gill previously served as the vice president of sales at m-Qube, now part of Verisign. He also held senior sales and business development roles at Gryphon Networks Inc., Altio Inc. and Yankee Group.
