TELUS Selects Mariner for IPTV Service Monitoring Optik TV™ Service using xVu™ to Deliver Improved Operations Performance

SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mariner today announced that TELUS has selected Mariner xVu IPTV service monitoring solution to assist with customer assurance of its IPTV-based Optik TV.

SupportVu, an application within Mariner's award winning xVu suite of IPTV Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring tools, will deliver real time performance insight to both Optik TV's customer support and field repair stakeholders.

"The Mariner xVu tools are providing our front line team members with new trouble shooting capabilities and insight into our customers' services which is helping TELUS deliver the very best client experience on Optik TV while reducing our operational support costs," said Zainul Mawji, Vice President of Operations Strategy & Execution at TELUS. "TELUS is continually focused on enhancing our Optik TV service with the very best solutions to ensure we provide an unsurpassed TV experience and place our customers first. The Mariner xVu tool is a key building block in our continuing journey to provide the best experience for our customers."

"We are thrilled to have yet another large-scale IPTV service provider select xVu as a cornerstone for their IPTV quality assurance processes," states Curtis Howe, President and CEO of Mariner. "Service Providers have achieved over 20% reduction in costly trouble dispatches through the insights and rapid trouble isolation capabilities delivered by xVu."

About Optik TV

Optik TV provides never before seen functionality and features as well as more than 480 channels, including more than 100 in High Definition (HD). The internet-based service features PVR Anywhere, with one PVR acting as a server for the entire home so that Optik TV customers can watch and record shows on any TV, record up to three shows at once, and pause a program in one room and pick it up in another, right where they left off. TELUS also offers Remote Recording, an application that allows Optik TV subscribers to manage their PVR recordings from any Internet connection, iPhone or select BlackBerry device. Optik TV also offers: Picture-in-Picture browsing; onscreen Call Display; HD Video On Demand; HD Pay Per View; and an improved search capability that enables effortless searches for shows and movies by actor, director, show title or sporting event, for immediate viewing or recording in the future. With Optik TV, TELUS customers can even use their Xbox 360 as a digital television box. It's easier and more flexible than ever.

Key facts

• Mariner xVu is currently deployed with service providers across Canada, the U.S., the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific markets. The solution is also in lab trials with European service providers.
• Mariner is a Microsoft Mediaroom partner in both test and measurement and application development.  
• By deploying Mariner xVu, operators are able to provide Quality of Experience (QoE) insight to head-end technicians, network operations, field technicians and customer service representatives, enabling them to proactively and efficiently confirm and isolate network issues before they negatively affect the end user's experience. This insight significantly lowers OPEX costs by reducing costly truck rolls and customer churn.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $10.1 billion of annual revenue and 12.4 million customer connections including 7.1 million wireless subscribers, 3.7 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and more than 400,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees will, by year-end 2011, have contributed $245 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.1 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Eleven TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

About Mariner

Making TV Better.  Mariner is a leading global provider of IP-based TV and Video solutions. Mariner's IP video edge service monitoring solution xVu™ is the most widely deployed  Microsoft® Mediaroom™ analysis and troubleshooting platform commercially available.  xVu offers impressive insight and impact in both real-time and offline modes.  Mariner has deployments throughout North America, Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific Rim. Mariner knows TV; knows the issues of managing a profitable IP-based TV operation.  With over 200 years of combined experience in developing and running IPTV services, the value of this experience is reflected in the innovative solutions delivered and supported by the Mariner team. Visit Mariner at www.marinerpartners.com.

SOURCE Mariner