SmartLabs targets US expansion with the appointment of a new VP for Business Development

SmartLabs, the leading provider of multi-screen, multi-network solutions for video streaming, is delighted to welcome Rick Sailor as VP for Business Development North America & Canada. Rick joins the SmartLabs team at an exciting stage in our global development.

While Rick might be new to SmartLabs, he is certainly not new to the world of telecoms. We spoke to Rick about his career to date and how he sees the US video market shaping up.

When did you first start working in the video market?

Both my father and my grandfather were in the telephone business, so you could say that telecommunications runs in the family. I started my career in the telephone industry, but by the late 90s, I could see that IP was going to take over the ATM industry and that the telephone company was going to become the internet company. I moved into the video market soon after. Even in just the past 20 years, the video market has changed so much here in the US.

What makes working in video so interesting?

The pace of innovation is incredible. I remember being so excited to launch the first IPTV decoder Set-Top-Boxes for MPEG 2 SD & HD, MPEG 4 SD and MPEG 2 SD PVR content decoding 15 years ago. While STBs are still important, I can see other retail device options being the future. Mobile has also become so important, with people wanting to stream their video anytime, anywhere.

What made you want to join SmartLabs?

When you work in Business Development, you always want to have something unique to offer your customers. The neat thing about SmartLabs is that it has it all. A complete video streaming system from transcoding to middleware and STBs. No one in the region currently offers that. SmartLabs also already has 7 million subscribers around the globe. No one in the US has anywhere near that. SmartLabs has developed an impressive global presence over the past 13 years and earned a reputation for being a leading provider of software solutions that drive multi-screen, multi-networks for the interactive TV sector and a manufacturer of award-winning design, feature-rich set-top boxes. The opportunity to lead the roll-out of SmartLabs to the US market was too good to miss.

What are you looking forward to in your new role?

I am looking forward to building relationships with telephone, cable and utility providers across the US to show them what the SmartLabs solution can deliver. Service providers are facing some difficult challenges now about the best way to provide video; how to package channels and maintain costly equipment. Video creates more service calls than phone or broadband does. It’s a service that everyone wants, yet no one wants to pay for. I am confident SmartLabs can help local providers address some of those challenges in a profitable way that gives them a competitive edge because of its extensive experience. The company has been around for so long and has such a good track record in multiple countries, operating on multiple devices, deploying solutions in managed and unmanaged IP, Hybrid DVB+ IP and mobile networks. To be able to bring this experience to the US and Canadian market is really exciting.

SmartLabs Global SVP for Sales and Business Development, Gary Hamer said: “We are delighted to welcome Rick to our team. I first met Rick several years ago, when we worked together at another video technology business. It was a pleasure working with him then and I was impressed by his technical understanding of the video market and his focus on supporting customers through a myriad of challenges to deliver a great end-customer service. I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with Rick again. I am sure he will do an excellent job in supporting SmartLabs’ customers in the US and Canada”