Orca Interactive Signs Expansion Agreement with Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom for IPTV Services

Business Wire, Sept 2, 2004

RA'ANANA, Israel -- Chunghwa Purchases 10,000 Additional RiGHTv(TM) Licenses to Accommodate Subscriber Growth in One of the World's Largest TV over IP Deployments

Orca Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emblaze Group, today announces the extension of its agreement with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) to deploy TV over the internet (IPTV) in Taiwan. CHT has purchased an additional 10,000 licenses of Orca's RiGHTv(TM) IPTV middleware solution as it continues to roll out Multimedia on Demand (MOD) services to its customers.

In April 2003, CHT awarded Orca the contract to provide the end-to-end solution and deploy MOD services. The services offered to the initial 20,000 subscribers included Video on Demand (VOD), Near VOD (NVOD), Karaoke-on-Demand (KOD) and live TV services. Today's announcement takes the number of subscribers to over 30,000.

CHT, as the dominant operator of domestic and international telecom services in Taiwan with 3 million ADSL customers, projects continued growth and anticipates having approximately 1.5 million subscribers to its MOD services within the next five years.

Haggai Barel, CEO of Orca Interactive said: "Orca's MOD solution is of the highest telco-grade and built to ensure high-availability and cost-effective scalability. The extension of our agreement is an affirmation of our business relationship and demonstration of their faith in our ability to help them grow. We are delighted to be able to be at the forefront of the roll out of IPTV in Taiwan."

Additionally, Orca has recently integrated with Widevine Technologies' Cypher(TM) Suite optimized security solution for iTV systems to provide CHT with one of the few TV over IP deployments with secure delivery of premium content.

Orca's RiGHTv applications are highly scalable solutions that facilitate the deployment of complete commercial iTV services. RiGHTv XVOD allows operators to supply subscribers with video content on demand and to incorporate advertisements and t-commerce features in an interactive TV service. RiGHTv XBIP allows operators to create and manage live TV and NVOD channels over broadband networks.

Orca's platform is Telco-grade to ensure service high-availability and cost-effective scalability. The platform also supports multi-device service delivery to enable heterogeneous environments of set-top boxes as well as convergence by exposing some services to the PC and wireless devices.

Notes to Editors

About Orca Interactive

Orca Interactive, a member of the Emblaze Group (LSE: BLZ), is a leading provider of middleware solution to enable xDSL and FTTx operators to offer enhanced entertainment services such as broadcast TV, video-on-demand and interactive services. Our applications deliver compelling and differentiated services to maximize the revenue stream of the operators. Orca's user-friendly, end-to-end applications enable delivery and management of VOD, TV channels, EPG, NVOD, Pay-Per-View and e-commerce for related merchandise. Orca Interactive has formed strategic partnerships with BitBand, GooMe, ECI, HP, Kasenna, Kreatel, Microsoft, nCUBE, NDS, Nokia, Optibase, Pace, Samsung and more. www.orcainteractive.com.

About The Emblaze Group (Emblaze LTD)

Emblaze Ltd. is a group of companies sharing a common vision to lead the market transformation to rich media personal communication: Emblaze Mobile, providing personalized and innovative mobile devices with enhanced user experience; Emblaze Transcoding, a global leader in real-time content adaptation for wireless operators and value added service providers; Emblaze Defense, a provider of real-time video solutions for military and homeland security markets and Orca Interactive, developing IPTV middleware for VOD and broadcast services, aimed at cable and xDSL operators. Emblaze Ltd. was established in 1994, went public in 1996 and is traded on the London Stock Exchange (BLZ). www.emblaze.com.