The initial deployment from the collaboration, marking the first time Netgem software has been ported and licensed on hardware supplied by a third company, will be seen in the second quarter of 2017 in the establishment of a partnership in Mexico with fibre operator TotalPlay who will receive ZTE set-top boxes (STBs) embedded with Netgem middleware software.

TotalPlay, a long-term Netgem client, is one the fastest growing companies in Mexico and has deployed 50,000km of fibre optic cable in more than 20 cities in Mexico, providing double- and triple-play services — including Netflix, YouTube and AccuWeather — to 600,000 subscribers. “We welcome ZTE as a long-term partner in TotalPlay fast growing venture and we are very happy to continue working with Netgem, whose innovative software expertise over the years is proven, with limited support cost,” commented TotalPlay CFO Alejandro Rodriguez.

Netgem will continue to directly maintain and license its software platform to TotalPlay, both to the existing subscriber base and for all new STBs that will be delivered by ZTE to TotalPlay in the coming years. “This agreement with ZTE creates an opportunity for Netgem to widen the distribution of its software platform to new territories and helps TotalPlay develop its fast-growing business,” said Netgem CEO Joseph Haddad.