Comcast hasn’t released any details about the project, said to be near the top of the MSO’s priority list. But sources familiar with Excalibur say its aim is to develop a “services overlay” that would put all IP services, including video, into a common provisioning and management system. Sources also say Excalibur will use a form of digital rights management (DRM) for security.

However, a Comcast official said it’s more appropriate to call the work a “natural extension of the work we’re doing” with IP.  Comcast has been using IP for years to deliver voice, Internet access, and even some video applications, the official added.

Comcast is expected to use Excalibur to help it pursue an IPTV strategy that includes personalized, unicast video services – although older, QAM-based video will still factor in for years to come. But the broader vision has Excalibur factoring in with Comcast’s “TV Everywhere” ambitions, which involve delivering IPTV to PCs, smartphones, and myriad other video displays that speak IP.

Industry sources say about 100 employees are involved with Excalibur, with Comcast Interactive Capital president and founding partner Sam Schwartz running point on the project.

Click here to read the full story at lightreading.com.

Quattro Wireless (www.quattrowireless.com), the leading premier global mobile ad network, today announced it is celebrating the company’s third birthday with the release of the first Mobile R.O.I. Report for Brands: Results and Objectives Indexes for Mobile Advertising. The report shows that mobile advertising, once thought of as the medium of mobile personalization advertisers – such as ringtones – has become an effective strategy for brand and premium direct response marketers. Industries that want to reach a broad audience, such as CPGs, Autos, Finance, and Entertainment, are embracing the medium by integrating mobile into their marketing mix and developing innovative and engaging creative, thus driving more consumers to click, respond and buy.

The findings also make it clear – by illustrating that animated ads are twice as effective as text ads, and that expanding ads also drive higher click-throughs – that those marketers and agencies that provide an engaging experience and take advantage of consumer behavior will make the most of their mobile investments. The executive summary of the report can be downloaded at http://quattro.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/q2-2009-mobile-roi-report-for-brands.html

As the largest and fastest-growing premium global mobile ad network, Quattro Wireless analyzes more than 10 billion mobile actions each month – ad requests, served impressions, and user actions such as page views, clicks and video plays – to target and optimize ad campaigns and provide insights to marketers and publishers on consumer behavior. In this new report, Quattro has analyzed its over 4 billion ads sold and served per month during Q2 2009 to produce valuable insights for the industry. This data can be used to benchmark campaigns and understand trends in the usage of mobile devices in a rapidly changing market.

Andy Miller, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Quattro Wireless, said, “The entire team at Quattro Wireless is proud of becoming the leading premium global mobile ad network in just three short years. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Quattro employees, we have built a sustainable business and successful partnerships with many of the world’s largest marketers, agencies and publishers. Today, we are excited to release our first Mobile R.O.I. Report for Brands, which continues to demonstrate our ability to deliver value to our clients and to promote the mobile channel as a critical component of driving ROI for all marketers.”

In addition to bringing new publishers and advertisers into the mobile marketing space, Quattro Wireless has been recognized by its peers and the business community with multiple awards and honors. In 2009, these included: CEO Andy Miller named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 in the Emerging Company category in New England; selection as a Northeast 100 Top Private Company by AlwaysOn Media; and selection by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange as a finalist for the Mobile 2009 category in the 14th Annual MITX Interactive Awards, for its campaign for the Concha y Toro Xplorador brand of wine.

“We congratulate Quattro Wireless on celebrating three successful years in mobile advertising,” said Phuc Truong, Managing Director of the U.S. for Mobext, a Quattro Wireless client. “Quattro has set a high standard for service and delivering results with their focus on premium inventory and innovation. Given the team’s track record, I am not surprised. They have been a terrific partner to us and our clients.”

“Quattro has been an essential partner in driving mobile advertising success for BrandinHand and our clients for the past three years,” said John Hadl, Founder and CEO of BrandinHand, a Quattro Wireless client. “They have reached this milestone as a leader in the industry because they always go above and beyond to ensure that our campaigns make the most impact on our target audiences. We applaud their release of the first Mobile R.O.I. Report for Brands as part of their ongoing efforts to provide actionable insights that help us better understand the mobile landscape, and we look forward to working with them long into the future.”

Quattro Wireless is the leading global mobile advertising company, empowering advertisers and publishers to reach and engage their target audiences across mobile web, application and video platforms with unrivaled precision, transparency and ROI. Employing Q Elevation dynamic targeting technology to optimize every impression, the company’s ad serving, tracking and analytics platform and global network of sites and applications (many exclusive) deliver superior results. Leading companies including P&G, Ford, NetFlix, Time Inc., Visa, Disney and the NFL partner with Quattro Wireless because the company has turned the art of engaging and converting mobile audiences into a repeatable science.