“We are delighted that Freebox has chosen to license our AAC patent portfolio for this important and innovative technology, which to date has been implemented in more than eight billion devices worldwide,” said Stefan Geyersberger, Head of Patents and Licensing and Deputy Division Director Audio & Multimedia of Fraunhofer IIS.

Fraunhofer IIS is one of the main developers of the MPEG AAC audio codec family including AAC-LC, HE-AAC, AAC-ELD and xHE-AAC. The AAC audio codecs are used in TV, radio, streaming, and communication services worldwide. The codecs combine high quality audio with low bit-rates and advanced features enabling an impressive audio experience for broadcast, streaming and communications systems.

Fraunhofer IIS is committed to ensuring a level playing field for licensees in the market place by making its AAC patent portfolio available to the industry through its individual patent licensing programs and Via Licensing Corporation’s AAC patent programs on FRAND terms. This has provided Fraunhofer with the necessary resources to reinvest in research and development of next generation audio technologies and securing its position as the worldwide leading competence center in the field of audio coding and signal processing.

For more information about the AAC family of codecs, please visit http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/audio.