XDC/FTT and Cineplex Agree on Deployment of 451 Digital Screens in Germany

http://www.digitalcinemainfo.com/xdc_07_21_10.php

July 21, 2010

Source: XDC

Cineplex, one of the large German cinema circuits, and the Belgian VPF service provider XDC agreed on the conditions of a digital roll-out of the 451 Cineplex screens.

The German integrator FTT played an important role in the pre-negotiations and will also carry out a large part of the installations.

The agreement between Cineplex and XDC includes the roll out of DCI-compliant projection systems cofinanced by the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) model and using the financing solution proposed by XDC via the credit facility structured by BNP Paribas Fortis.

Kim Ludolf Koch, Managing Director of Cineplex Deutschland said: “After careful consideration and negotiations the 35 shareholders of Cineplex group, we decided to complete the digital deployment on a large scale and with the most experienced partner in VPF services in Germany. As an association of numerous familyrun businesses we are placing particularly high demands on our partner as far as flexibility is concerned. With XDC we were able to depict our various individual requirements and demands as precisely as possible“.

Serge Plasch, XDC’s CEO, said:"We are delighted that, with Cineplex group, we were also able to win the third major German cinema circuit and, consequently, could make an important step towards the digital roll-out in Germany. The fact that we could catch on with our business proposal against other VPF providers in this highly competitive preliminary decision once again underlines the quality of our model.“

Thomas Rüttgers, FTT’s Chairman of the Board of Management, added:“It was vital for our co-operation with XDC and Cineplex that we could do our bit acting as an intermediary in this issue. We think that this is a clear signal to the market that VPF models will become further established in Germany.”

Under the terms of the agreement with XDC, Cineplex will exclusively install Series 2 DCI-compliant digital projection systems. Cineplex will also implement a fully integrated and networked solution within the cinema circuit, thanks to XDC’s advanced Theatre Management System and Central Library, the XDC’s CineStore® Plaza. 

A content delivery network will also be implemented by XDC in order to allow distributors to deliver films directly by satellite and/or broadband connection to the cinemas, as well as to give the opportunity to Cineplex to perform live 2D and 3D transmissions.

All the systems will be connected to the XDC’s NOC (Network Operations Centre) which will perform the hotline support and the preventative remote maintenance.

Thanks to the sophisticated XDC’s CineStore Data webbased application, the frontline support (with the possibility to have a full remote monitoring of the digital systems) will be directly managed by FTT, which will also take care of most of the installations and maintenance.