Signiant and LaserNet Power the News for e.tv

BURLINGTON, Mass., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Signiant®, Inc., the pioneering software developer of content supply chain management solutions, announced today that LaserNet, a leading South African provider of multimedia services, has implemented a Signiant solution to power content acquisition, aggregation and management for the news division of e.tv, the first free-to-air commercial television station in South Africa.

eNews, the channel's flagship news programme, is widely regarded as the most reliable and independent news source in the country and is the most viewed English language news attracting all ages, races and language groups.

LaserNet has implemented an automated workflow for news acquisition and management, based entirely on Signiant's Content Distribution Management (CDM) solutions. Journalists in the field upload material using Signiant's web application, Media Exchange, via either ADSL, 3G or Began satellites. The material is then routed to a Signiant agent in Cape Town where it goes through an automated process to clean up the video signal, and is then sent to e.tv's news centre in Johannesburg.

"The workflow has been in place for over six months and it works like a charm – our client is very happy," said Ivan Bridgens, Managing Director, LaserNet. "We have been working with Signiant for over a year, and their reliability is excellent. We don't need to worry about the security of the content or whether it will get to where it needs to go – the Signiant solutions just get on with the job."

e.tv will be using the Signiant workflow to ingest and manage content coming in from various major sporting events taking place in South Africa, and LaserNet plans to replicate this successful workflow for other broadcasters' event coverage.

"The combination of LaserNet's experience and Signiant's reliability has made this project a great success," said Tony Lapolito, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management, Signiant. "e.tv can rely on its automated workflow to ensure that its news content is received and managed at every stage, at the right time."

About LaserNet

LaserNet is a full service provider of multimedia services, media delivery, streaming media, data delivery, archiving, internet and VOIP. The groups principal infrastructure is a private VLAN network supported by laser, radio, fiber and satellite. The network serves the greater Johannesburg region, the greater Cape Town region and the greater Durban region. From this network we break out to other regions in South Africa and the rest of the world via MTN network and satellite infrastructure. Our professional staff have many decades of experience in delivering broadcast, network, data and multimedia services.

About Signiant

Signiant's pioneering software is more than simple file transport – we automate, accelerate, manage, and securely control the movement of high-value digital content within and between organizations and ecosystems. Signiant solutions streamline content supply chain management operations from production through distribution and upload of digital files – enabling customers to build new business models, reduce costs, and integrate with existing investments. Headquartered in Burlington, MA with development facilities in Ottawa, Canada, Signiant has hundreds of enterprise organizations deployed in over 50 countries. Find out more at www.signiant.com.

SOURCE Signiant, Inc.