TIA welcomes one of its newest members, Backspace Communications, LLC!

Backspace Communications, LLC, is a full-service provider of end-to-end IPTV that allows virtually anyone to broadcast IPTV to televisions, computers, or mobile devices. In addition to providing hardware and software, Backspace also offers comprehensive consulting services. They also use our their own products to broadcast IPTV in their local market in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Backspace Communications, LLC, has been in the IPTV market for nearly eight years.

The Backspace Communications IPTV Power Plant is a complete system that allows for the ingest, encoding, broadcast and management of IPTV assets. The software is custom-designed for ease-of-use and enables an operator to quickly deploy a scalable system. The components of the system run on standard Windows-based servers making them easy to acquire and operate. The management system provides a full set of tools for managing content, users, programming guide and billing. An optional Software Developers Kit (SDK) is available which allows operators to completely customize the system to their needs by changing the appearance of the EPG or by adding custom features and applications. Set top boxes function as thin-client devices in the system, which allows flexibility and light-weight operation. While Backspace Communications provides the system on standard devices, the software is flexible and can be modified to run on a customer's specified set of hardware.

For an overview of Backspace IPTV, go to the company's Web site.

Backspace Communications CEO Fling Traylor and CTO Joseph Lea have been involved in the communications industry for several years. Before the creation of Backspace, Traylor was CEO of a television company and Lea was CEO of an ISP, both located in the San Luis Obispo area. Several years ago, they foresaw an opportunity to provide television service over the Internet to their customers. At the time, however, IPTV was still in its infancy, so Backspace Communications was formed to build a system that was capable of delivering content over IP networks.

Traylor and Lea spoke with TIA Network staff about Backspace Communications:

Please tell us the value you gain from your TIA membership.

As we are a new member to TIA, the largest value we received has been the benefits provided at NXTcomm08. Having access to the TIA members pavilion gave us the opportunity to network with other members and also provided a much-needed respite from being on the floor all day.

What are you doing to get ahead of the competition? Is the current economic environment affecting your company, and what are you doing to address the challenges?

The largest advantage that Backspace Communications has is that we are not only an equipment vendor, but we are also an IPTV service provider. We have grown and built our equipment from experience and fully understand all the challenges that IPTV operators will face. While the economy has been taking a turn, we still see quite a bit of interest from customers who view IPTV as a way to increase their revenues at reasonable price points.

What publications do you follow to stay in the know?

We read Communications Week, Business Week, IPTV Magazine and other on-line blogs and journals.

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