Senior solutions architect joins online anti-piracy company

Birmingham-based Friend MTS, a provider of online anti-piracy systems and supplier of an innovative live watermarking system, has boosted its team with the appointment of Simon Hanna as Senior Solutions Architect.

Hanna is a specialist in video delivery platforms for Pay-TV and OTT (over the top) operators, with more than 20 years’ experience working with major video entertainment operators and primary vendors in the worldwide Pay-TV industry across cable, satellite and telco customers.

He’s worked at Ericsson, Microsoft, Liberate Technologies and most recently V-Nova Limited, where he provided support to its engineering, sales and marketing teams on its portfolio of IPTV and OTT video technology solutions as Solutions Manager.

Friend MTS and Partnership

Friend MTS offers a platform, channel and content protection services to almost all of the world’s major Pay-TV operators, broadcasters and rights holders, to control where their video content flows for both live and non-live content across broadcast and OTT.

In the role of Senior Solutions Architect, Hanna will utilise his experience of product and solutions management, integration and deployment, and customer program and project management, for its content protection services and anti-piracy solutions.

Hanna will also be part of the Friend MTS’ cohort that is heading to the NAB Show and Conference in Las Vegas in April, where the company will showcase its anti-piracy product ASiD (Advanced Subscriber Identification) that uses a sophisticated but lightweight watermarking technology to identify originating subscriber accounts that are being used to retransmit live channels and events. The company will also demonstrate its portfolio of digital content security and automated monitoring software solutions for service providers, that deliver live and playback content to connected consumers whether distributed by means of traditional set-top-box or newer IP delivery / over-the-top (OTT) methods.

“This is an exciting time to join Friend MTS, which is set to grow significantly with the global demand for its content protection solutions,” said Hanna. “The time has come for this technology, with the growth in the volume of online platforms and premium content that carries with it increased opportunity for digital piracy that costs broadcasters across the world billions of dollars every year. At one time, digital content protection was optional for many, but now it is a ‘must have’ as illegal streaming moves to a whole new level. The Friend MTS’ watermarking system is the most widely used in the world, and I am looking forward to working for such a technology innovator.”

Chris White, who heads the Professional Services Team comments:

“I’m delighted to be able to bring on board someone with Simon’s 20-plus years of professional services experience in the Pay-TV industry. With growth and interest in Friend MTS’ subscriber identification technologies increasing rapidly, Simon’s in-depth technical knowledge, spanning both OTT and traditional broadcast delivery for some of the world’s largest broadcasters and telcos, will bring huge benefits to the rapid rollout of our content and revenue protection services, and solutions for our global customer base.”

 Friend MTS is the world’s leading provider of technology-led platform and content protection services used by many of the world’s leading Pay-TV platforms. Its suite of managed services includes the world’s most deployed broadcast and OTT subscriber-level watermarking solution, operational daily in tens of millions of devices, coupled with global content monitoring for seamless discovery of theft, recovery of subscriber identity, and real-time session tear-down.