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The Video/IPTV Channel
Video/IPTV
News Highlights
Key Words: IMS, Convergence, NGN, Triple Play, VOD, DVB-H, DMB, DMB-T,
ADTB-T, Set-Top Boxes (STB), CPE, Middleware, SD, HD, HDTV, Interactive
Digital TV, CATV, Videoconferencing, Videotelephony, Videophone, Video
Game, Video Downloading, VoDSL, DVR, PVR, DVD, MPEG, AVC (H.264), Encoder,
Decoder, Encryption, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Conditional Access,
Content Security, ODAI, Streaming, Compression, Broadcast TV, Cable TV,
Pay-TV, FTTP, FTTH, Verizon FiOS TV, AT&T, SARFT, SMG, BestTV, MII,
Shanghai Telecom, Shanda, PCCW, FASTWEB, TELUS, NeGeV, Carrier,
Enterprise; and more
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Video/IPTV News
Orange wins Beijing Olympics deal
Aware to demo VDSL2 at NXTcomm 2007 |
Who should be interested in this channel? - Buyers of Video Solution products and services - Decision makers for global business development, strategic alliance and acquisition - VCs, consultants and engineers in the Video Solution arena - Engineering, marketing and sales executives |
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Broadcom touts impulse noise protection technology
Broadcom Corporation, a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless
communications, announced a new impulse noise protection technology that enables
carriers and OEMs to dramatically improve voice, data and video services to
their customers. The new impulse protection solution, marketed as Broadcom®
PhyR(TM) (pronounced "Fire") technology, incorporates Broadcom's industry
leading ADSL2+/VDSL2 firmware and provides a significant improvement in residual
bit error rate (BER) as well as resistance against impulsive noise, resulting in
a vastly improved user experience for subscribers of telecommunications
triple-play services. Broadcom's new PhyR technology will be demonstrated at
next week's NXTComm 2007 show in Chicago, Illinois.
Video services, provisioned over traditional copper loops, are susceptible to
noise sources in the ambient environment that limit the coverage area over which
services can be made available, or may even reduce video quality by inducing
"macro-blocking." Today's IPTV deployments require carriers to provide a certain
acceptable level of impulse noise protection and margin settings, which in turn,
determine an achievable data rate and the loop length over which voice, video
and data or IPTV services will be delivered. Increasing noise protection in
current IPTV deployments has an improved effect on residual errors, but has an
adverse effect on the serviceable reach and data rate, thereby limiting the
service coverage area. Broadcom's PhyR technology significantly improves noise
protection without inducing limitations of reach, rate, margin or latency,
providing operators with a valuable tool that significantly reduces errors and
improves the service coverage area, reliability and achievable revenue for IPTV
investments.
"We are very pleased with how our PhyR technology is addressing real field
issues with a greatly simplified provisioning model, better reach and a
significant improvement in residual BER under heavy impulsive noise conditions,"
said Greg Fischer, Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom's Carrier Access
line of business. "The beauty of PhyR technology is that it enables our
customers with greatly improved ADSL2+ and VDSL2-based video or data services,
and enables new IP services in a way that vastly improves performance, while
reducing service provisioning complexity and scalability issues."
Related Channels:
Chips,
Video/IPTV,
Optical
Networking
Verizon expands FiOS coverage in Florida
The wait is over for more than 3,000 households in south Hillsborough County as
Verizon announced Thursday (June 7) the availability of FiOS TV and the
company's popular FiOS triple-play bundles to several new developments in the
Ruskin area. The services are delivered over Verizon's all-fiber network,
directly to people's homes and businesses.
Previously, FiOS services were available to nearly 163,000 households in other
areas of Hillsborough County. This is the first expansion of FiOS service to the
Ruskin area and includes Mira Bay, Mira Lago, South Shore Falls, Harbor Isles,
Bahia Lakes, Bay Park and River Bend, among others.
"New developments in the Ruskin area over the past few years have driven our
initial fiber deployments in south Hillsborough County," said John Ferrell,
Verizon's senior vice president and general manager for the Southeast region.
"We are now bringing our full suite of FiOS services to these developments,
while we also are working to further expand our fiber footprint in other
established areas in Ruskin."
To date, Verizon has deployed 27 million feet of fiber in Hillsborough County
and more than 48 million feet of fiber in its Florida service territory. More
than 450,000 households in Hillsborough, Pasco, Sarasota, Manatee and northern
Pinellas counties can now order one or more of the FiOS services.
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV,
FTTP
Shanghai Media Group, Shanghai Unicom partner
on mobile TV service
Dragon New Media, a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), has partnered with
Shanghai Unicom to provide mobile TV service.
Dragon New Media provides a mobile TV service based on streaming media
technology. Its parent company, SMG, received the country's first mobile TV
license in April of 2005, and kicked off a nationwide mobile TV service in
partnership with China Mobile in September, 2005.
Shanghai Unicom said its mobile TV service will be available to both its GSM and
CDMA subscribers. Live content from SMG's most popular TV channels, such as
Dragon TV and China Business News, will be offered through the mobile TV
service, as well as news and financial information, and video-on-demand (VOD)
content related to movies, music and lifestyle.
In addition, Shanghai Unicom's subscribers will be able to watch SMG's reality
TV shows "My Hero" and "My Show," as well as movie content provided by the
Shanghai Film Group Corporation, on their mobile phones.
Shanghai Unicom is currently offering a free trial of the mobile TV service. Its
CDMA subscribers can find a shortcut to the service from the company's wireless
Internet platform, while its GSM subscribers can access the service through the
site Nuvi.cn.
Related Channels:
China,
Wireless,
Video/IPTV
US government awards $20 billion telecom contract to 5 telcos
Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Qwest Communications, and Level 3 Communications
on Thursday were awarded a federal telecommunications contract worth up to $20
billion over 10 years.
It's the second telecom contract awarded by the General Services Administration
in about two months.
In late March, Qwest Communications International Inc., AT&T Inc. and Verizon
Communications Inc. were winners of the much larger Networx Universal contract,
the government's largest telecom contract ever awarded. That deal is potentially
worth up to $48 billion over a decade.
Universal requires companies to not only maintain current agencies' needs, but
also offer advanced services, such as Internet-based telephone service, network
security and video and Web conferencing, domestically and internationally.
Related Channels:
VoIP,
Video/IPTV,
OSS & Security
Telkom Indonesia may spend US$2B to expand networks
PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, the nation's biggest company by market value, may
spend as much as US$2 billion this year to expand its networks, President
Commissioner Tanri Abeng said.
Indonesia's biggest phone company expects sales to rise more than 20% in 2007 as
the operator adds millions of users to its wireless network. The company is also
focusing on expanding its pay television, broadband and satellite businesses.
"We are not in a hurry to expand regionally because of the tremendous
opportunities for domestic growth," Abeng said. "We have to make sure all the
domestic segments are captured by us. We are the leader and we have to maintain
the leadership position."
Related Channels:
Wireless,
Video/IPTV
UTStarcom integrates Optibase encoding platforms for IPTV deployment in India
Israel-based Optibase Ltd., a leading provider of advanced digital video
solutions, announced that UTStarcom, a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end
networking solutions and services, will integrate Optibase's advanced H.264
Media Gateway (MGW) 5100 IPTV encoding platforms in its end-to-end RollingStream
IPTV solution for deployment with AKSH in India.
Aksh, a leading provider of IPTV solutions in India, will utilize Optibase's
integrated carrier-grade TV streaming platforms in order to provide advanced
H.264 high-quality encoding.
Dr. K. S. Choudhari, Managing Director of Aksh Optifibre on commissions of the
Optibase H264 platforms commented "The video quality and customer response time
of Optibase is commendable. We see a long term relation with this company."
"Our collaboration with UTStarcom and the installation at Aksh is an important
strategic step for Optibase," said Mr. Udi Shani, executive vice president of
sales at Optibase. "We believe that our expertise in high-quality video
streaming over IP networks combined with UTStarcom's integration capabilities
creates a winning IPTV solution."
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV
Vimicro and Microsoft strengthen working
alliance in China to develop digital multimedia market
Vimicro Corporation, a leading fabless semiconductor company designing advanced
mixed-signal multimedia products and solutions, and Microsoft China, reaffirmed
their strategic partnership during a ceremony in Beijing on May 24. The
companies are continuing to cooperate in the Microsoft-Vimicro Multimedia
Technology Center, originally established in 2003 within Vimicro's Beijing
headquarters, and are expanding the scope of their work together to include the
mobile multimedia sector. Mike Yu, vice president of Vimicro is appointed as the
Dean of Microsoft-Vimicro Multimedia Technology Center.
Vimicro and Microsoft China are finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding to
increase their joint efforts in further developing the digital multimedia
market. One goal of the Microsoft-Vimicro Multimedia Technology Center is to
enable Vimicro's multimedia processors to be compiled to the requirements of
Windows Vista drivers and be ready to get Windows Vista logo certification.
''Vimicro is honored to be Microsoft's ongoing partner,'' said Dr. John Deng,
chairman and founder of Vimicro. ''Over the past four years, Microsoft and
Vimicro have experienced great successes. As a result of our collaboration,
Vimicro has earned international recognition for the quality of our products at
a faster rate and Chinese Ministry of Information Industry's recognition as the
outstanding representative of Chinese IC design industry. Together, Vimicro and
Microsoft are continuing to cooperate in multimedia area and expand the
international digital multimedia market.''
Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang, corporate vice president of Microsoft and chairman of
Microsoft China Research and Development Group stated, ''Technology innovation
is essential to China's sustainable economic development. Microsoft desires to
contribute to China's innovation blueprint by developing a flourishing IT
eco-system through collaborating with partners on innovation. Vimicro is one of
the outstanding independent innovation representatives in China. Through
combining the innovation thoughts, strength and experience together, we're
confident that this new collaboration will continue to provide world-class
digital multimedia experiences
Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang, corporate vice president of Microsoft and chairman of
Microsoft China Research and Development Group stated, ''Technology innovation
is essential to China's sustainable economic development. Microsoft desires to
contribute to China's innovation blueprint by developing a flourishing IT
eco-system through collaborating with partners on innovation. Vimicro is one of
the outstanding independent innovation representatives in China. Through
combining the innovation thoughts, strength and experience together, we're
confident that this new collaboration will continue to provide world-class
digital multimedia experiences to consumers.''
Through their partnership over the past four years, Vimicro and Microsoft have
cooperated in real-time multimedia communications and 3C convergence areas. The
collaboration has already resulted in breakthrough PC-camera and embedded
notebook-camera solutions.
Vimicro and Microsoft began collaborating in 2002, when they formed a strategic
partnership to promote Windows-based digital imaging technology in the worldwide
market. The partnership combined Vimicro's VXP imaging technology with the
Windows XP platform to provide an enhanced multimedia experience for PC-users
worldwide.
About Vimicro
Vimicro International Corporation is a leading fabless semiconductor company in
China designing, developing and marketing proprietary digital multimedia signal
processing chips and solutions enabling multimedia applications for mobile
phones over 2.5G/3G networks and PCs over broadband Internet.
Related Channels:
China,
Chips,
Wireless,
Video,
OSS
China Telecom might launch AVS-based IPTV
trial in Shanghai
China Telecom, the country's largest fixed-line operator, is reportedly planning
to run field trials of a domestic codec that could lead to it dropping support
for H.264.
The trials will begin next month in Shanghai, the largest IPTV market in China,
using the Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS). It's unknown how big the trial will
be. But if China Telecom decides to standardize its IPTV platform on AVS, it
would be a blow to suppliers of H.264 gear.
China Telecom denied the news.
However, Huawei Kong, vice director of the Institute of Computing Technology, a
leading state-run research group, believes the trials will happen. In addition,
Leping Wei, chief engineer of China Telecom, indicated last month that China
Telecom was considering AVS after seeing positive results from tests in Dalian
by China Netcom, its rival.
China Netcom plans to use AVS-based IPTV in 20 cities by the end of 2007, and
hopes for 6 million AVS-based IPTV users in five to seven years, or 40% of its
current broadband users.
However, in a market dominated by H.264, some observers believe it doesn't make
much sense to switch to AVS, which may carry higher costs because of its
immaturity. However, there is a sense that political pressure rather than
business sense is driving the decision. All of China's telcos are
state-controlled.
AVS is among a handful of domestic standards that China is promoting in order to
lessen its reliance on foreign intellectual property. If the strategy is
successful in the long run, it will shift the flow of royalties and fees into
the coffers of local, rather than foreign, companies and help to build up
domestic technology.
IPTV users in Shanghai shot up 150% in 1Q07. IPTV users in China are expected to
top 17 million by 2010.
Related Channels:
China,
Video/IPTV
Microsoft, Chunghwa Telecom form JV
Microsoft is forming a joint venture with Chunghwa Telecom to develop
telecommunication services together and gain exposure to small and medium-sized
businesses in mainland China.
Through its alliance with Microsoft, Chunghwa Telecom hopes to add more value to
its telecom and internet services, including internet protocol television (IPTV),
voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP), and other multimedia services.
Chunghwa hopes to broadcast TV via broadband networks using Microsoft's IPTV
software, currently in its initial stage trials, as part of a broader plan to
expand its TV business and compete with traditional cable TV operators in
Taiwan.
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV,
VoIP,
OSS
ITU cancels ITU Telecom Europe 2007 in Bulgaria
ITU’s forthcoming ITU TELECOM EUROPE 2007 in Sofia, Bulgaria, scheduled for
December this year is cancelled. The decision has been taken in order to focus
capacity and resources on upcoming ITU TELECOM events as well as a number of new
initiatives.
The announcement follows the first meeting of the ITU TELECOM Board of
Directors, a top-level representation of major global ICT corporations and
organizations, who met recently at ITU headquarters in Geneva.
The ITU TELECOM Board of Directors recommended the cancellation of EUROPE along
with a raft of new measures aimed at enhancing ITU TELECOM’s position as the
leading global networking platform for the ICT industry.
"Naturally, the decision to cancel an event is a disappointment. However, we
feel that we have reached the best decision for all event stakeholders, given
the constraints of time in which we found ourselves operating," Said ITU
Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré. "I would like to take this opportunity to
express my sincere appreciation to the Bulgarian authorities for their
initiative to host ITU TELECOM EUROPE 2007 and I look forward to other
opportunities to collaborate in the future."
The next ITU TELECOM events will take place in Africa and Asia in 2008. An
announcement on ITU TELECOM AFRICA is expected imminently. ITU’s flagship ITU
TELECOM WORLD will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, 5−9 October 2009.
Related Channels:
Wireless,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP
Comcast promotes Derek Harrar to SVP and GM of Video Services
Comcast Cable, the country’s leading cable entertainment and communications
company, Friday announced that Derek Harrar has been promoted to Senior Vice
President and General Manager of Video Services.
In this position, Mr. Harrar has responsibility for all aspects of the company’s
video business, including basic and digital cable subscriptions, high-definition
and digital video recorder services as well as management of the ON DEMAND
product for the Company’s 24.2 million customers. He reports to David Juliano,
Executive Vice President of Marketing & Product Development.
“Derek has shown tremendous leadership in shaping the way we bring video
products to our customers,” said Mr. Juliano. “His unique combination of
technical, entrepreneurial and financial experience will help move the video
business forward in an increasingly competitive marketplace."
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Harrar served as Vice President of Video Product
Management for Comcast. He joined Comcast in 2004 as Vice President of Business
Development before being named Vice President of Subscriber Equipment.
Mr. Harrar holds a B.S. with Special Attainments in Commerce from Washington and
Lee University in Lexington, VA. He lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife
and two daughters.
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV,
Appointments
Hitachi GPON product receives USDA-RUS acceptance
Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc. Thursday announced that the company's AMN1220 GPON
product has been accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural
Utilities Service (RUS) for deployment under the Rural Development Broadband
Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. The acceptance was effective on May 15,
2007.The Hitachi GPON system will be listed in the "ae - Access Equipment"
category, FTTH Systems. Acceptance for the RUS program requires that the product
is standards-compliant (ITU G.984.1 - 4 for GPON), has been deployed in a
"revenue-generating service environment" with at least six months of operating
experience, and is recommended by current customers.
RUS acceptance means that communities of up to 20,000 inhabitants can now
install Hitachi's AMN1220 GPON Fiber to the Premises solution using funding
obtained under the USDA Rural Development funding programs. GPON offers the
bandwidth to support - over a single fiber optic cable - multiple simultaneous
HDTV channels, high-speed Internet access, and voice services.
According to Rick Schiavinato, Hitachi Telecom vice president of sales and
marketing, "Hitachi's acceptance was based on our track record of successful
commercial deployments dating back to June 2006. Our AMN1220 GPON product was
the first ITU standards-compliant, full-rate GPON solution to be deployed in
commercial service in North America. And as the first GPON product to achieve
RUS acceptance, we are now the only vendor that can offer smaller communities -
under the RUS programs - a proven GPON fiber to the premises solution that can
future-proof the communities' broadband infrastructure. These communities can
now enjoy a bandwidth advantage over even large metro areas today, helping the
communities to attract and retain industries and generate commerce."
Related Channels:
FTTP,
Optical
Networking,
Video/IPTV
FTTH port shipments in 1Q07 declined 5% after a big jump in 4Q06
According to DITTBERNER’s “Broadband Shipment Analysis”, global FTTH port
shipments in 1Q07 declined 5% QoQ after a big jump in 4Q06. At 1.1 million
ports, it was the second best quarter ever and was up 13% YoY. The decline,
after the jump in 4Q06, was due to the change in the mixture of detached homes
and apartments in the dominant Japanese market. It is expected that this
changing mixture will continue to cause some lumpiness in the FTTH shipments for
the foreseeable future, although the general trend remains upwards.
The FTTH market is still dominated by Japan and that market is increasingly
dominated by NTT. With 4.5 Million FTTH subscribers NTT has about 5 times the
subscribers of Verizon, the next largest FTTH service provider and approximately
ten times its nearest domestic competitor.
The top four suppliers were Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Hitachi and Tellabs with 33%,
21%, 14% and 11% market share, respectively. Siemens moved into the fifth place
spot with 9% market share due to Siemens’ success in the Korean market. FTTH was
launched in Korea in the first quarter and DITTBERNER estimates a million ports
should be shipped into this market in 2007.
GEPON is still the dominant technology and this trend will not change in the
next two years. However, BPON will decline quickly in the latter half of this
year, especially when Verizon switches to GPON. With GPON being the chosen
technology for North America and Western Europe shipments are predicted to be
approaching 300,000 a quarter in 12 months.
With Japan growing at a rate of 3 Million subscribers a year and Verizon and
Korea likely to add 1 Million and 800,000 subscribers, respectively, in 2007,
DITTBERNER estimates the FTTH market will be 6.8 Million FTTH ports. Feeling
threatened by FTTH, cable operators are expected to quickly introduce DOCSIS
3.0, which will cause telephone companies to start deploying fiber even faster.
Related Channels:
FTTP,
Optical
Networking,
Video/IPTV
Spirent touts remote testing and diagnostics for IPTV service assurance
U.K.-based Spirent Communications plc, a global provider of performance analysis
and service assurance solutions, announced Wednesday that results from a white
paper published by the Alcatel-Lucent on the IPTV Ecosystem for MSTV, support
the company’s unique testing and diagnostic solutions and the critical role they
play in ensuring IPTV services and subscribers’ quality of experience (QoE).
The white paper, titled “IPTV Test and Measurement Best Practices White Paper,”
identified the need to generate measurements that go beyond traditional network
performance monitoring, such as jitter and loss, and to include video content
analysis in order to ensure a superior IPTV subscriber QoE. According to the
results, “due to added quality, optimisations in MSTV, generic standard
measurements do not always produce an accurate reflection of video quality…”
Spirent’s SmartSight solution is highlighted in the paper as the only ecosystem
partner to demonstrate a comprehensive end-to-end remote testing and diagnostic
capabilities. In addition, the white paper outlines the requirement for
strategically placed probes within the network and states, “due to accuracy
concerns or scalability concerns an operator should put equipment in the network
specific to service assurance...” Spirent’s SmartSight is the only IPTV service
assurance test system on the market today that enables remote diagnostics from
the DSLAM to capture accurate subscriber experience data based on content
analysis rather than just network performance indicators.
“The Alcatel-Lucent white paper has validated Spirent’s IP service assurance
strategy which focuses on network performance indicators that goes one step
further to more accurately measure subscribers’ QoE,” said Jeff Schmitz, vice
president of marketing at Spirent Communications. “This strategy enables
carriers to measure the QoE of IPTV services prior to installation, ensuring
deployments are right the first time. In addition, the system will enable our
customers to more economically scale IP service delivery and reduce the cost
associated with maintenance.”
Related Channels:
Test,
Video/IPTV
Harmonic intros CWDM forward path transmitters
Harmonic Inc. Wednesday expanded its family of high-performance PWRLink™
transmitters with the introduction of CWDM-based 1310 nm forward path
transmitters that significantly enhance cable operators' ability to deliver more
bandwidth to the home. The new PWRLink transmitters make it possible to easily
increase available bandwidth without adding new fiber by combining multiple
wavelengths to deliver traffic to the node. Cable operators deploying these new
transmitters can increase revenues by expanding capacity for value-added
services, while minimizing capital expenditures with a highly scalable solution
that is fully compatible with the existing access network infrastructure.
Applications such as high definition (HD) television, video-on-demand (VOD),
high-speed Internet and gaming have created a dramatic increase in demand for
bandwidth. Deploying additional fiber closer to the home is one way to increase
capacity but is normally very costly and not always a feasible option.
Harmonic's use of CWDM technology in its new transmitters offers an alternative
by providing two or more wavelengths in the 1310 nm frequency band that can be
combined onto a single fiber for forward transmission and then separated at the
node to be demultiplexed and processed by different receivers. Thus, without any
change in the fiber links or node locations, capacity can be greatly expanded.
"Cable operators have needed to expand bandwidth over the years as channel
counts grew, but today the requirements are escalating as never before due to
the highly bandwidth-intensive services that continue to grow in popularity,"
said Sunil Frida, Director of HFC Solutions for Harmonic Inc. "HD, VOD and
high-speed data in particular are driving the need for more forward capacity.
Harmonic addresses the bandwidth crunch in a number of ways, with solutions
including ultra-efficient compression, switched digital video and network
segmentation. The new PWRLink CWDM transmitters help to optimize bandwidth by
using multiple fiber wavelengths to transport more traffic to the node. With
these systems, cable operators now have a highly cost-effective, scalable and
easy-to-implement solution that saves on fiber usage and also provides more
flexibility by enabling different wavelengths to carry different types of
traffic or content according to the operator's specific requirements."
Related Channels:
Optical
Networking,
Photonics,
Video
UTStarcom wins GEPON deal in India
UTStarcom, a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and
services, Tuesday announced a contract with United Telecom Limited to deploy its
Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON) fiber access solution to serve
as the foundation for the new Statewide Area Network (SWAN) in the state of Goa
in India. A pioneer in the development and management of eGovernance and
next-generation network infrastructure solutions, United Telecoms Ltd is the
first company to deploy GEPON technology to deliver e-Governance and triple play
services to the citizens of Goa.
"Bridging the digital divide is a global challenge many countries face as the
availability of broadband services expand beyond metropolitan cities into remote
regions of the world," said David King, senior vice president of international
sales and marketing at UTStarcom, Inc. "This contract represents our first GEPON
contract win in India and is further proof of UTStarcom's dominant position as
the leading provider of innovative broadband technologies to the Indian market."
UTStarcom's FTTx solution will be used to provide high-speed fiber connectivity
across all state government offices in Goa for running e-Governance
applications. The network will be capable of delivering up to one
gigabit-per-second bandwidth to each office and is expected to be extended in
the near future to cover the sub-districts and villages to enable the Goa state
government to provide better services to its citizens.
"The cooperation with UTStarcom ideally complements our portfolio and helps us
provide innovative solutions that fit the unique requirements in India," said
Dr. Rajmohan Rao, managing director at United Telecom Limited. "UTStarcom's
fiber solution will enable us to deliver high-speed access to our subscribers
over which we intend to offer a slew of services including e- Governance
applications, broadcast-quality IPTV and on-demand entertainment services, tele-medicine,
distance learning and e-commerce."
Related Channels:
FTTP,
Video/IPTV,
Optical
Networking
Wave7 Optics wins FTTP deal
South Sioux City, Neb., customers of Long Lines, an Independent Operating
Company serving more than 100 communities in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota,
will soon see new communications products and services, thanks to a new fiber
optic network supplied by Wave7 Optics Inc. and EMBARQ Logistics.
Long Lines recently signed an agreement with the two companies for a new
Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network in South Sioux City. Wave7 Optics is a
leading supplier of standards-based FTTP equipment for residential and business
services. EMBARQ Logistics is the deployment, distribution, and logistics
division of Embarq Corporation and serves a vast customer base of
telecommunications service providers.
EMBARQ Logistics is managing the project, which features Wave7 Optics’ Trident7™
Optical Access Platform. Last year the companies announced a distribution
agreement that will help meet the growing demand from independent service
providers, such as Long Lines, to deploy FTTP networks.
Services include a complete triple play of voice, data and RF video, including
Wave7 Optics patented RF return. Demonstrating Wave7 Optics’ interoperability
with leading systems providers, the complete Long Lines solution includes RF
video headend equipment and set top boxes from Scientific-Atlanta, a voice
switching solution from Nortel, and an IP digital terminal (IPDT) from General
Bandwidth.
"This marks our first foray into FTTP, in which we have become increasingly
interested over the last several months to improve our service bundles and
increase available bandwidth to end users," said Paul Bergmann, COO of Long
Lines. "Long Lines' business plan is focused on building the communication
infrastructure needed to attract economic development. The investments we are
making in the Siouxland area, such as that with Wave7 Optics, will pay dividends
for our communities and subscribers for years to come."
Related Channels:
FTTP,
Video/IPTV
Cisco to acquire BroadWare
Cisco Tuesday announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held
BroadWare Technologies, a leading provider of IP-based video surveillance
software. BroadWare's software enables web-based monitoring, management,
recording and storage of audio and video that can be accessed anywhere by
authorized users.
With this acquisition, Cisco will be able to help customers easily gain access
to live and recorded surveillance video for faster investigation response and
event resolution. The BroadWare acquisition complements Cisco's existing video
surveillance product offering, which provides a smooth migration path from
analog surveillance video to a digital network solution.
By using the IP network as a platform to converge applications, companies can
easily integrate and synchronize video with other safety and security systems as
well as other business tools. This creates the opportunity for new innovative
capabilities to be delivered, maximizing the value of live and recorded
surveillance video. BroadWare Technologies will help Cisco provide this value to
its customer across different environments including commercial and enterprise
branch offices, campus/headquarters and large public sector applications.
"Cisco views the video surveillance infrastructure market as an immediate high
growth opportunity that requires the ability to support both IP and analog
device installations," said Marthin De Beer, Senior Vice President of Cisco's
Emerging Market Technologies Group (EMTG). "Through the acquisition of BroadWare,
Cisco will be able address both existing and greenfield video surveillance
opportunities."
Related Channels:
M&A,
Video
| For Visibility Edge over Your Competitors, contact advertising21@globalexecutiveforum.net |
China releases mobile TV standard (CDMB)-
CAS158-2007
China Association for Standardization has released mobile TV standard (CDMB)-
CAS158-2007. CDMB core technology is the DAB based channel transmission
technology and AVS based signal processing technology. DAB technology is the
technical specification on Digital audio Terrestrial Broadcasting (GY／T214-2006)
recommended by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT);
AVS is the national standard (GB／T20090) launched by National Standards
Administration.
Related Channels:
China,
Video/IPTV,
Wireless
China Telecom, Sina to launch co-branded video sharing platform, "Sina-Vnet
Podcast"
Sina.com (SINA) says it is working with China Telecom to launch a co-branded
video sharing platform under the brand name of "Sina-Vnet Podcast".
Charles Chao, president and CEO of Sina, says, "Although video sharing is still
at an infancy stage in China, we believe this will prove to be a fast growing
trend in China in the near future. Through the Sina-China Telecom partnership,
we hope to not only provide internet users in China the best multimedia
experience, but also offer a scalable solution for video sharing without being
constrained by bandwidth and related costs."
Under the strategic alliance, the co-branded site will be hosted on Sina.com but
Internet users will also be able to access the Sina-Vnet Podcast platform via
China Telecom's portal Vnet.cn.
"China Telecom will continue to improve the networking quality to ensure that 'Sina-Vnet
Podcast' delivers the best user experience," said Keke Yang, general manager of
China Telecom's Value-Added Business Division. "We believe that our efforts to
provide podcasting service will lay solid ground work for China Telecom to
continue to explore new business model that will add value to our partners as
well as our customers."
Related Channels:
China,
Video/IPTV
Microsoft to acquire aQuantive for $6 billion
Microsoft Corp. friday announced it will acquire aQuantive, Inc., for $66.50 per
share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6 billion. This deal
expands upon the Company’s previously outlined vision to provide the advertising
industry with a world class, Internet-wide advertising platform, as well as a
set of tools and services that help its constituents generate the highest
possible return on their advertising investments.
“The advertising industry is evolving and growing at an incredible pace, moving
increasingly toward online and IP-served platforms, which dramatically increases
the importance of software for this industry,” said Steve Ballmer, chief
executive officer of Microsoft. “Today’s announcement represents the next step
in the evolution of our ad network from our initial investment in MSN, to the
broader Microsoft network including Xbox Live, Windows Live and Office Live, and
now to the full capacity of the Internet. Microsoft is intensely committed to
creating a thriving advertising business and to partnering closely with all key
constituencies in this industry to help maximize the digital advertising
opportunity for all.”
The aQuantive acquisition enables Microsoft to strengthen relationships with
advertisers, agencies and publishers by enhancing the Company’s world-class
advertising platforms and services beyond its current capabilities to serve MSN.
The acquisition also provides Microsoft increased depth in building and
supporting next generation advertising solutions and environments such as cross
media planning, video-on-demand (VOD) and IPTV.
“Combining the talented people and deep technology and service expertise of
these two companies will help make buying and selling media simpler, smarter and
more cost effective for advertisers, agencies and publishers alike,” said Kevin
Johnson, president, Platforms and Services Division at Microsoft. “Joining the
capabilities of these groups is an important step toward our goal of becoming an
industry leading, Internet-wide advertising platform.”
“aQuantive’s mission has been to leverage the power of digital marketing
services and technologies to drive measurable results for our clients,” said
Brian P. McAndrews, chief executive officer of aQuantive. “Microsoft has set a
leading example in prioritizing industry partnership, transparency, measurement
and quality, and we look forward to combining forces and bringing the value of
our combined assets to bear for the benefit of advertisers, ad agencies and
publishers.”
The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of Microsoft’s fiscal
year 2008. The acquisition is not expected to have a significant impact on the
financial guidance previously issued by the Company.
aQuantive, which has approximately 2600 employees, will continue to operate from
its Seattle headquarters as part of Microsoft’s Online Services Business. The
combination of Microsoft and aQuantive takes the Company’s advertising platform
to the next level in its ability to serve Microsoft’s first party audience
assets like MSN, Windows Live, Xbox Live, and Office Live, as well as for third
party publishers and applications such as Facebook and Activision game titles.
Related Channels:
M&A,
Video/IPTV,
OSS
Harmonic to feature digital video processing solutions at ANGA Cable 2007
At ANGA Cable 2007 stand #G8, Harmonic Inc. will feature a range of digital
video processing solutions and broadband access transport systems ideal for
delivering advanced broadcast and on-demand services in a cable environment. As
part of its flexible, high performance and end-to-end video delivery platform,
Harmonic will demonstrate IPTV over cable solutions that make it possible to
deliver value-added video services to a variety of IP-enabled devices. The ANGA
Cable conference and exhibition will be held from May 22-24 in Cologne, Germany,
and is one of Europe's largest cable industry events with more than 360
exhibitors participating and approximately 10,000 attendees expected this year.
IP-based technologies that enable more compelling, personalized viewing
experiences are transforming the way television services are delivered by all
types of service providers—cable, satellite, terrestrial and telco operators.
The increasing demand for more high definition (HD) programming, on-demand, data
and other services is also resulting in a need for cable operators to free up
valuable bandwidth in their networks.
Harmonic is the industry leader in pioneering and deploying IP-based digital
headend, edge and access solutions that enable cable operators to meet the
challenge coming from new video-over-DSL services. Harmonic's NSG™ family of
edgeQAMs and HFC transport systems power video-on-demand (VOD) services for
leading cable operators worldwide, including nine of the ten largest cable
operators in North America.
"Cable operators in Europe are more actively deploying next generation solutions
to enhance the service offering, thanks to a highly competitive environment and
the growing interest in HD and other services such as VOD," said Nimrod Ben-Natan,
Vice President of Product Marketing and Strategy for Harmonic Inc. "For many
years, Harmonic has held a strong position as the market leader in cable
solutions for the headend, edge processing and in the access network. Today, we
are working with the top cable operators around the world to implement highly
flexible IP-based network architectures and bandwidth-efficient solutions such
as network segmentation and switched digital video, and we will highlight our
latest solutions at the upcoming ANGA exhibition in Germany."
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV
Motorola to acquire Modulus Video
Motorola, Inc. and Modulus Video, Inc., a privately-held company, announced the
signing of a definitive merger agreement, under which Motorola will acquire
Modulus Video. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Modulus Video is a leader and innovator in MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC)
compression systems designed for delivery of high value video content in the
IPTV, cable, broadcast and satellite marketplace. Modulus Video has partnered
with Motorola for over two years bringing high-quality encoding solutions to key
customers around the world. This acquisition will complement Motorola's recent
acquisitions of Broadbus, Kreatel, Tut Systems and Netopia in the creation and
delivery of an integrated, end-to-end video delivery system for multiple network
architectures.
"Motorola is committed to offering an integrated, end-to-end video portfolio
designed to meet the current and next-generation requirements of operators,"
said Dan Moloney, President, Home and Networks Mobility business, Motorola, Inc.
"As consumers demand more high definition video and interactive services, the
need for advanced compression technology is increasingly important. As part of
its advanced real-time video encoding products, Modulus Video has a powerful
architecture and product development framework that is well suited for continued
technological advancement."
Related Channels:
M&A,
Video/IPTV
Swisscom acquires 82.4% of FastWeb for €3.1B
Swisscom is pleased to announce that its bid for Fastweb shares was successful.
The acceptance level of its offer is at 80.7%. Together with previously acquired
1.7% of Fastweb shares Swisscom will own 82.4% of Fastweb. The total purchase
price is EUR 3.1 billion. Together with the assumed net debt of Fastweb of EUR
1.1 billion the total transaction amounts to EUR 4.2 billion or CHF 6.9 billion.
Swisscom plans to finance the transaction through new debt of around CHF 5.9
billion, the proceeds from the sale of Antenna Hungaria of CHF 0.5 billion and
the placement of treasury shares for an amount of up to CHF 0.5 billion. As now
all conditions set in the offer document have been fulfilled, settlement of the
tender offer will take place on 22 May 2007.
"We are very pleased that so many shareholders have accepted our offer", says
Carsten Schloter, CEO Swisscom. "We can now start working on our vision of a
successful Swiss-Italian partnership". Swisscom thanks Fastweb shareholders, the
board of directors and management team as well as Fastweb employees for their
cooperation and trust. The offer period for Fastweb shares started on 10 April
2007 and finished on 15 May 2007. Settlement date of the transaction will be 22
May 2007. Swisscom will pay to each shareholder having tendered its Fastweb
shares an amount of EUR 47 per share. In total, Fastweb shareholders tendered
64.1 million shares equalling 80.7% of the share capital of Fastweb to Swisscom.
The purchase price for the tendered shares will be EUR 3.0 billion (CHF 5.0
billion). Together with 1.4 million shares previously acquired the ownership
level stands at 82.4% and the total purchase price will be EUR 3.1 billion (CHF
5.1 billion).
Related Channels:
M&A,
Video/IPTV
Verizon expands FiOS TV service to Upper Marlboro
Nearly 9,700 additional Prince George's County consumers now can drop their
cable provider for good, as Verizon expands its industry-leading FiOS TV service
to portions of Upper Marlboro.
Since Verizon began offering FiOS TV in Prince George's County in January, the
company has brought cable choice to more than 87,000 households - approaching
one-third of the county's total households. FiOS TV is delivered over the
nation's most advanced all-fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.
"Customers' response to FiOS TV has been astounding since we began offering the
service in Prince George's County just three months ago," said William R.
Roberts, president of Verizon Maryland. "Every day, more Marylanders are
choosing Verizon and saying goodbye to their cable company. New customers tell
us they love the service, and now more Prince George's County residents can join
the all-fiber FiOS revolution."
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV,
FTTP
Verizon FiOS TV expands in NY
Residents of this Rockland County community are a major step closer to having a
real choice for their cable television services, thanks to a newly approved
agreement authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service, delivered over the
most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.
The Haverstraw Town Board granted a video franchise to Verizon Monday night (May
14), paving the way for video choice in the community. The Board's vote brings
to 36 the total number of New York communities that have approved video
franchises for Verizon.
The Haverstraw franchise covers the town's unincorporated hamlets of Camp Hill,
Felters Corners, Garnerville, Mount Ivy, Samsondale, Theills and Willow Grove.
Each incorporated area of Haverstraw, as well as all other incorporated areas of
New York, must conduct its own negotiations with Verizon for a video franchise.
"We are thrilled to be able to bring FiOS TV to residents in Haverstraw," said
Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut. "As a
result of this franchise, consumers in this Rockland County community will be
able to choose their cable provider as easily as they choose their phone
company. Competition like this drives innovation and value, and puts the
consumer in control."
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV,
FTTP
Celrun, Metalink launch wireless HD IPTV set-top box at IPTV World Forum
Celrun Co. Ltd., a leading IP set-top box vendor, and Metalink Ltd., a provider
of high-performance wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon
solutions, announced their collaboration to launch a next generation IPTV
set-top box at the IPTV World Forum Eastern Europe tradeshow in Prague, Czech
Republic, May 15-16, 2007. Celrun's new IP set-top box, powered by Metalink's
802.11n WLANPlus(tm) chipset, will be demonstrated at the show, featuring the
delivery of high-definition (HD) video over wireless home networks.
Demonstrations are available at Celrun's Booth #31.
Mike Arden, Principal Analyst, Broadband at ABI Research, said: "According to
our latest IP set-top box report, issued in March 2007, Celrun captured the top
market share in the Asia Pacific region and landed among the top four vendors
for the worldwide IP set-top box market share."
Celrun's new set-top box is designed to deliver HD IPTV over Wireless LAN. The
wireless delivery of HD video streams is enabled by Metalink's 802.11n WLANPlus.
Metalink's WLANPlus chipset family presents the cutting-edge technology of
video-grade requirements for wireless home networks, supporting both 2.4GHz and
5GHz. In line with the specifications of IEEE drafts for 802.11n Wi-Fi
certification, it is fully compliant with 802.11a/b/g-based legacy devices, as
well as 802.11h (radar detection), 802.11i (security) and 802.11e Quality of
Service (QoS). Metalink's chipset supports optional standard features, as well
as proprietary algorithms, to meet the critical demands required for sensitive
multimedia applications, that require superior bandwidth and the lowest possible
jitter, latency and packet loss.
"We see a growing demand for IP set-top boxes that support the delivery of HD
multimedia content via IPTV over Wireless LAN," said BJ Lee, Vice President at
Celrun. "As a global leader of IPTV technology, we are committed to providing
our customers with the most advanced IPTV solutions, and have thus examined
various wireless technologies. We selected Metalink's WLANPlus as it proved to
be the best-of-breed solution enabling the wireless delivery of HD multimedia
content at wire-like quality."
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV,
Wireless
Deutsche Telekom simplifies its brand identity
"Appealing to the customer as 'One company. One service' with clear brand
structure” – brand migration starts with teaser campaign on May 19, 2007 –
T-Home campaign "Grenzenlos Zuhause" (limitless home) with variety of multimedia
services from June – T-Home for "home-based" products and T-Mobile for on the
move – Deutsche Telekom remains corporate brand – CI/CD migration underway –
Successful international T-Mobile brand to be further expanded as global brand.
Deutsche Telekom is simplifying its brand identity. The aim is to be the leading
provider in Germany with the new "one company" identity. The clear brand
structure is intended to lead to a clear improvement in the domestic competitive
position. The main idea behind this simplification: In Germany, the company
offers its customers in the consumer market services predominantly under the two
brands T-Home and T-Mobile. T-Home will offer services for the home and T-Mobile
for on the move. The T-Home teaser campaign will start on May 19, 2007; the
campaign will be continued with a range of product offers under the motto "Grenzenlos
Zuhause" (limitless home) from June. The existing T-Com brand will be absorbed
into the T-Home brand. This will lead to a clear differentiation between the
brands T-Home, T-Mobile and T-Systems for business customers under the T
Deutsche Telekom umbrella. Deutsche Telekom will remain the corporate brand in
terms of the CI/CD (Corporate Identity / Corporate Design), there will be a
visual differentiation between T-Home and T-Mobile, as well as T-Systems for the
business customer segment to reflect customer needs. The CI/CD will be migrated
step by step in the second half of the year.
"The brand identity is focused on the customer: As a result, customers will be
able to find their way around our services much better. One company. One
service. That's why we have streamlined our marketing and sales, reduced the
number of brands and established a new brand architecture. The overriding goal
with the new brand identity is to appeal to the customer. Nobody has better
resources to achieve that than Deutsche Telekom. We are pooling all our
strengths internally to perform even better in our intensely competitive market.
We took a close look at our communication activities to date and decided to
simplify the way we approach the market and our brand architecture," explained
René Obermann, Chairman of Deutsche Telekom, in Bonn.
Related Channels:
Wireless,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP
Nortel opens Texas-based Solutions Showcase touting hyperconnectivity
Nortel Wednesday announced the opening of its new Solutions Showcase in
Richardson, Texas. The new showcase will allow visitors to experience
innovations staged in real-world settings to depict the future era of
hyperconnectivity, where anything that can be connected, will be connected.
Hyperconnectivity encompasses person-to-person, person-to-machine and
machine-to-machine communication. It is fueling huge increases in bandwidth
demand because of the complexity, diversity and integration of new applications
and devices using the communications network. Capitalizing on the theme of -
Experience Gen H, The Hyperconnected Generation - the new showcase will feature
dynamic, realistic lifestyle vignettes to show how people living today's
connected lifestyle can easily stay connected and seamlessly conduct business
whether they are at home, in the office, at the local coffee shop, or on the
road. For example, visitors can see how metropolitan train passengers can stay
connected while accessing their corporate intranet and files through powerful
high-speed 3G and 4G mobile broadband technologies. The demonstration also shows
how Nortel's convergence technologies like IMS can also allow passengers to
enjoy a seamless, uninterrupted communication experience across fixed and mobile
networks.
"Hyperconnectivity is an unstoppable, global mega-trend that will create a new
generation of communications for consumers and businesses," said Richard Lowe,
president, Carrier Networks, Nortel. "By providing our customers with a window
into how Nortel's technology can enhance the lives of users, our new showcase in
Richardson is illustrating the future of communications. In addition, this
state-of the art facility demonstrates Nortel's commitment to leading the
industry's shift to Hyperconnectivity by creating technologies that help make
communications and business simple."
Related Channels:
Wireless,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP
Entropic appoints Susan Huberman as Marketing VP
San Diego-based Entropic Communications, a leader in home networking for digital
entertainment, announced that global corporate brand strategist Susan Huberman
has joined the company in the newly created position of vice president of
corporate marketing and communications. Susan will lead the development of the
company's brand positioning and integrated communications strategy as Entropic
continues to build on its leadership position in connected home entertainment.
Susan has nearly 20 years experience in strategic marketing management for
private and public companies in consumer electronics, high tech and consumer
packaged goods. Before joining Entropic, she was VP of corporate marketing at
Cymer, Inc., where she led corporate branding and strategic marketing.
"Susan's vast experience in global marketing and communications will help us
establish our brand position as a connected home chipset company," said Patrick
Henry, president and CEO of Entropic. "Susan is an expert in brand development,
product positioning, and strategic marketing, and we are delighted to have her
join the Entropic management team."
Susan was founder and chief marketing officer of MOD Consulting, a strategic
marketing firm serving the marketing needs of growing companies. Prior to MOD,
Susan was chief marketing officer for Iomega Corporation where she was
responsible for global communications, brand management, customer support and
emerging technologies. She was VP of Marketing at Munchkin, Inc., has held a
variety of senior marketing positions at Hewlett Packard, and began her career
in consumer packaged goods at Alberto Culver. Susan was also a management
consultant in Accenture's consumer products practice.
"I am excited to be joining the Entropic team," said Susan Huberman, vice
president of corporate marketing and communications. "I look forward to
leveraging my consumer and technology marketing skills to help build the
Entropic brand into a recognized leader in connected home entertainment."
Related Channels:
Appointments,
Chips,
Video
IPTV provider Joost raises $45M from Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Li Ka
Shing Foundation, CBS, and Viacom
New York-based Joost™, the world’s first broadcast-quality Internet television
service, announced that five selected parties have collectively invested
approximately $45 million in the company. Each party invested in a minority
percentage of the company. This funding will enable Joost (www.joost.com) to
accelerate product development, global expansion, localization, and service
offerings.
Founded in January 2006 by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, Joost is powered by
a secure, efficient, Internet platform that enables premium interactive,
advertising-supported, video experiences while providing copyright protection
for content owners and creators. Joost can be accessed with a broadband Internet
connection and offers content to viewers for free.
“This funding represents a tremendous vote of confidence in Joost’s platform,”
said Janus Friis, co-founder of Joost. “We’ve carefully selected these investors
from a variety of interested parties, as they are best-in-class in their
respective arenas and bring unique assets to Joost that will enable us to
significantly accelerate growth and development of the Company.”
Index Ventures, a leading European venture capital firm, which invests in
impactful technologies that have global reach, led the round with Sequoia
Capital, the premier venture capital firm in the world. Sequoia Capital has been
the first investor and business partner in companies that make up 10% of the
NASDAQ's value. In combination, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital bring
unrivaled expertise and alliances in Europe, Asia and North America.
Danny Rimer, general partner of Index Ventures said, “We are excited to be
working with Niklas and Janus once again as we see the same ground-breaking
potential in Joost that we saw in Skype. By leveraging proven P2P architecture
and assembling a world class management team, they have made a powerful idea
simple and brought new services to market in record time. Our investment in
Joost signals Index Ventures’ continued commitment to investing in impactful
technologies.”
Roelof Botha, general partner, Sequoia Capital, added, “Feature length video on
the Internet has been long on promise and short on delivery for some time. Full
screen commercial content delivered online has simply not been compelling for
the viewer and has been far too costly for the content owners. Joost allows
content owners to reach audiences of any size at any time where the viewer can
‘lean back’ to enjoy an immersive yet interactive video experience. At the same
time, Joost enables brand marketers to efficiently deliver precisely targeted
and measurable advertisements. This ability poises the company to expand the
video distribution business and capture an enormous market opportunity.”
Related Channels:
Investment,
Video/IPTV
| For Visibility Edge over Your Competitors, contact advertising21@globalexecutiveforum.net |
Huawei and Batelco enter into strategic
partnership
China-based Huawei Technologies has entered into a strategic partnership with
the Bahrain Telecommunications Company, Batelco.
The aim of the agreement is to extend and improve the existing relationship
between the two groups, while facilitating the best possible commercial terms,
knowledge transfer, and marketing processes.
"The agreement with Batelco will establish a common platform for the recognition
and development of Bahrain's growing telecommunications market," said Tang
Qibing, Vice President Middle East, Huawei Technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Batelco will provide Huawei with relevant
information concerning future requirements and strategies. In exchange, Huawei
will provide Batelco with updates on its product development and future roadmap
of services.
The relationship agreement is currently in effect and will continue to be in
force until 31 December 2009.
Related Channels:
Wireless,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP,
Optical
Networking,
China
Verizon Business ready for government biz under Networx Universal
Verizon Business has officially unveiled a comprehensive suite of services and
capabilities to help the federal government usher in a new era of advanced
communications services under the multibillion-dollar Networx Universal contract
awarded by the U.S. General Services Administration on March 29.
In a meeting in Virginia Thursday (May 10) with representatives from federal
agencies that soon will begin submitting orders under Networx Universal, Verizon
Business provided an overview of the cutting-edge voice, data, wireless,
security and Internet services the company is prepared to provide to more than
135 government agencies around the globe. Verizon Business was one of three
prime contractors awarded the Networx Universal contract, which authorizes the
company to compete for business from individual agencies.
Networx Universal is the first of two Networx contracts awarded by the GSA to
modernize federal government communications with seamless, secure and
interoperable services to support the business of government.
The second contract, Networx Enterprise, is expected to be awarded later this
month.
The Networx program is among the largest federal communication contracts in
history and has an overall value estimated at $20 billion over 10 years spread
among all awardees. Networx will replace FTS2001 and several other
telecommunications agreements.
"We are ready to help the federal government unleash the power of Internet
protocol, wireless and other advanced services," said Susan Zeleniak, vice
president for Verizon Federal, an organization within Verizon Business dedicated
to serving federal government customers. "As a communications provider to the
federal government under the GSA FTS2001 contract, we have the unique experience
to help agencies transition to Networx. We realize that transitioning from one
network to another is not without challenges, and we are committed to working
with our government customers to address their distinctive needs for today while
anticipating their needs for tomorrow."
Related Channels:
OSS & Security, VoIP,
Video/IPTV,
Wireless
BT unveils advertising campaign for its BT Vision IPTV service
BT Friday unveiled the first national advertising campaign designed to position
BT Vision as Britain’s most flexible digital TV service.
The multi-million pound campaign – BT’s biggest of the year so far – is led by
national TV advertising, kickstarted by two new 60 second slots starring Kris
Marshall and Esther Hall. The new ads develop the story of Adam and his partner
Jane as they each rush home from work, anticipating their ideal night of TV via
BT Vision – be it through Freeview, BT Vision’s broad choice of on demand
content, or a programme stored on the PVR. The ads will make their debut during
ITV’s ‘Grease Is The Word’ on Saturday May 12.
The TV slots are supported by a nationwide BT Vision poster campaign across
billboards and bus sides, including a specially created execution for the
Clapham Colossus at Clapham Junction – at 200ft, the largest backlit poster site
in Europe.
The above the line campaign incorporates advertisements in national print
newspapers and magazines. BT has also substantially revamped the website at
www.bt.com/btvision and will be driving a major online campaign including rich
media ads featuring on the home pages of MSN, Yahoo! and AOL.
Lib Charlesworth, Director of Sales & Marketing at BT Vision, said: “When people
are considering digital TV, the campaign spells out why BT Vision offers the
best option – no matter what their mood or viewing occasion. The messaging is
underpinned by how easy it is to control how much or how little customers choose
to pay for BT Vision.”
“This campaign seeks to establish BT Vision, and build a strategic positioning
in an increasingly competitive market, drawing on the striking visual identity
and generating long-term awareness amongst consumers of BT Vision as
‘entertainment that’s right for me’.”
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV
Agilent tests triple play
Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that its N2X multiservices test solution was
used by Isocore Corp. to validate the performance of the Alcatel-Lucent Triple
Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA). The N2X was the exclusive test
system employed in Isocore's independent evaluation of the forwarding
performance, service prioritization and recovery mechanisms of the
Alcatel-Lucent TPSDA.
The test was the first in the industry to validate an entire end-to-end network
architecture under a highly scaled mix of residential triple play and enterprise
VPN services. The resulting test measurements offer service providers excellent
insight into how the network architecture will perform in real-world deployment
scenarios, and give confidence that services can meet subscribers' quality
expectations.
Emulating the architecture, subscriber profiles, traffic types and protocol
state characteristics of today's multi-service networks within a controlled lab
environment was a significant challenge. The test bed included multiple
Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Routers and 7450 Ethernet Service Switches, as well
as 58 GbE/10 GbE ports of the Agilent N2X. Isocore chose N2X for its ability to
simulate, scale and make measurements for the magnitude of subscribers and
service traffic required to emulate mass deployment conditions.
"Before service providers deploy IPTV and other multi-play services, they need
the confidence that their network can deliver those services at scale and with
the quality their customers expect," said Rod Unverrich, business manager of
Agilent's Data Networks Operation. "N2X allows NEMs and service providers to
cost-effectively simulate the scale and complexity of real-world multi-play
deployments and validate that their network architectures can meet strict
performance, reliability and QoS requirements."
Related Channels:
Test,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP,
Optical
Networking
Isocore validates Alcatel-Lucent triple-play service delivery architecture
Alcatel-Lucent announced that Isocore Internetworking Lab, a leader in product
validation and interoperability of emerging and next generation Internet and
Wireless technologies, has released a comprehensive report
(www1.alcatel-lucent.com/tripleplay/isocore.jhtml) validating the Alcatel-Lucent
Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA) for mass deployment of
converged residential triple play services. The independent performance
verification is an industry first and establishes a new benchmark for network
level solution certification that extends beyond traditional node-level
certification that is available today.
The primary objective of the test was to evaluate the readiness of
Alcatel-Lucent’s advanced triple play solution in terms of its ability to meet
the strict requirements for a scaled residential deployment. Alcatel-Lucent’s
willingness to subject TPSDA to rigorous third party testing reflects its
commitment to bring independently validated solutions to the market. As service
providers transition their IPTV and other triple play services to a mainstream
market, they can have complete confidence that TPSDA will provide a target
network architecture that is future proof in meeting multidimensional
scalability and performance requirements.
The Isocore test is also an industry first in terms of emulating the scale and
complexity of real-world deployment scenarios for any triple play network. The
network − based on the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7450 Ethernet
Service Switch (ESS) − included 120,000 active subscriber hosts and, to further
validate IP service convergence, more than 43,000 enterprise class Layer 2 and
Layer 3 VPN services representing a dense metropolitan region. The test also
included an in-depth evaluation of Alcatel-Lucent’s enhanced subscriber
management, hierarchical quality of service (H-QoS), security, subscriber host
authentication, high availability, and operations, administration and
maintenance (OAM), as well as a thorough analysis of architecture flexibility to
support deployments in any mode of operation. IPTV service scalability was
tested by concurrently delivering 400 Standard and 100 High Definition channels,
which considerably exceeds what most service providers will be delivering for
the foreseeable future.
“The overall results indicate that the tested solution is one of the most
comprehensive triple play service delivery solutions available in the industry,”
said Dr. Bijan Jabbari, president of Isocore. “Isocore feels comfortable in
stating the scalability and feature richness of the Alcatel-Lucent TPSDA
solution and believes, based on certifiable results, that the set up evaluated
during this testing series is fully deployable in its current form for
delivering comprehensive triple play services in any network environment.”
Related Channels:
Test,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP,
Optical
Networking
ZTE strengthens global momentum with 2007 VAS Forum tour
China-based ZTE Corporation, the leading global provider of telecommunications
equipment and network solutions, is this month raising product awareness with a
global tour highlighting its range of value-added services (VAS). As an integral
part of this tour, ZTE is offering a series of technical workshops to major
operators in nine countries around the world, focusing in detail on the uses and
benefits of its latest network solutions and technologies like IMS SOFTDA,
Handset Television, NGCC (Next Generation Call) and OCS (Online Billing system).
With a theme of "Information, Content and Entertainment", the 2007 tour follows
two similar and highly successful events in previous two years, and will cover
major cities around the world including United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India,
Bengal, Brazil, Vietnam, Algeria, Kenya and Pakistan.
"In the converging telecoms world, traditional voice and data services can no
longer be regarded as the revenue-generating services that they once were," said
Mr. Kan Yulun, General Manager of ZTE's value-added product range. "In the
on-going effort to retain customers and increase ARPU, services that add value
on top of voice and data are fast becoming the key to the creation of
future-proofed, profit-generating networks. Our VAS forum places the new breed
of services in context for national operators who are seeking an economically
viable means to scale services in a way which meets customer expectations."
ZTE delivers its value adding technology through its Anyservice solution, a
system which enables multiple services such as polyphonic ringtones, SMS, 3G
data services, prepaid services, intelligent public phone services and a number
of corporate solutions to streamline communications in the enterprise.
Demonstrating ZTE's ability to meet the diverse demands of local customers,
ZTE's VAS forum highlights the full portfolio of VAS solutions, simultaneously
focusing on one or two specific customised solutions for local markets.
To date, ZTE's Anyservice VAS solutions have been deployed for around 70
carriers in over 60 countries around the world. Several defining applications,
including prepaid service, SMS and "Colour" Ring Back Tone (CRBT) service, have
been deployed in more than 60 carrier networks, becoming profit generators for
these customers.
The ZTE VAS Forum Tour is running throughout May and will conclude in Pakistan
in June.
Related Channels:
China,
OSS, Wireless,
Video/IPTV,
VoIP
China to become the world's largest IPTV market
China will soon be the largest IPTV market in the world, boasting 1 million
subscribers by the end of 2007, says Co-Founder Ying Wu of China-based UTStarcom.
According to Wu, IPTV has dodged the five major barriers in China: regulation,
technology, content, infrastructure and capital. Though highly regulated, the
Chinese government mandated that the country's approximately 2,200 local cable
operators be separated from government fuctions.
UTStarcom alone now has 100,000 subscribers.
One challenge lies in funding content when users can fast-forward through ads on
IPTV. Vendors hope to address this issue with profile-based targeted
advertising.
Contrary to the case in most countries, Chinese telcos have more money and
better infrastructure than cable operators, allowing for better streaming and
lower rates for subscribers - around $4 for basic service.
Related Channels:
China,
Video/IPTV
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China to do $4.3B high-tech shopping in US, including 27 contracts in
California
A delegation of Chinese business leaders committed to buying $4.3 billion in US
technology, hoping to soften a political backlash to the massive trade imbalance
dividing two of the world's economic powers.
The agreements were trumpeted at a ceremony, two weeks before the scheduled
start of government talks in Washington where leaders will try to tackle the US'
$232 billion trade deficit with China and other prickly issues.
California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi hailed 27 contracts as an "important step in
furthering the deep relationship between this state, this country and China."
To underscore China's resolve to explore more US investments, executives from
more than 200 Chinese companies are meeting with their US counterparts in 24
cities scattered across 23 states, said Ma Xiuhong, vice minister of China's
Ministry of Commerce.
In its first stop, just north of Silicon Valley's high-tech heartland, the
Chinese coalition primarily sealed deals with computer software, semiconductor
and telecommunications companies.
The US beneficiaries included high-tech bellwethers Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, HP
and other companies.
Already boasting the world's largest population, China has become an
increasingly attractive market for makers of high-tech gear as the country's
rapid economic growth feeds the demand for more powerful computers and more
sophisticated mobile phones, advanced photonics components and chips for FTTP
and IPTV, and new software for OSS/BSS and network security.
Related Channels:
China,
Wireless,
OSS & Security, Video/IPTV,
VoIP,
FTTP,
Optical
Networking,
Photonics &
Chips
BBC World News joins Verizon FiOS TV channel lineup
Viewers around the world turn to BBC World News for balanced, in-depth
international news and information. Now, Verizon FiOS TV subscribers can enjoy
this 24-hour news resource as BBC World News joins the Verizon FiOS TV channel
lineup on channel 92.
"BBC World News telecasts to more than 200 countries and territories across the
globe, yet few U.S. cable companies offer it," said Terry Denson, Verizon vice
president - FiOS TV content and programming. "We're delighted to give our
customers another distinctive choice that further serves their diverse interests
and isn't found on most competing systems."
Verizon provides FiOS TV over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network,
straight to customers' homes. Verizon FiOS TV offers a broad collection of
all-digital programming, more than two dozen high-definition channels, 8,600
video-on-demand titles and more. At the end of the first quarter, Verizon FiOS
TV had 348,000 subscribers and was available to approximately 3.1 million
households in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
BBC World News provides international news, business and sports reports, plus
award-winning current affairs series and documentaries, to a weekly global
audience of 65 million viewers.
A study by American pollster Frank Luntz, commissioned by BBC World News in
September 2006, shows that the channel has "mass potential" and "an eager
audience" in the United States. In addition to the programming on the BBC World
News channel, U.S. audiences can view BBC World News via 30-minute programs
shown daily on 229 PBS stations throughout the United States and on BBC America.
"BBC News already has a strong reputation in the U.S.," said BBC World News'
director of distribution and business development, Jeff Hazell. "The BBC World
News channel offers audiences a truly international news agenda and a global
perspective and is in the enviable position of being able to meet the demands of
American viewers for in-depth, balanced international news."
Related Channels:
Video/IPTV
Teridian touts STB chip shipment milestone
California-based Teridian Semiconductor Corp. Wednesday celebrated a major
company milestone, the shipment of 100 million ICs into cable and satellite
digital set-top boxes worldwide. As a leading vendor for a who's-who list of
set-top box (STB) manufacturers, Teridian's semiconductor solutions provide the
connectivity in systems from DirectTV, EchoStar's Dish Network, Thomson, and
Motorola. Teridian's broad STB product portfolio currently includes modem ICs
for satellite STBs, smart card reader chips enabling conditional access (CA)
features, A/V Pro video switch, and 10/100 Ethernet semiconductors enabling IP
connectivity.
"Selling 100 million chips into set-top boxes makes a company a significant
player in the industry," said IdaRose Sylvester, senior research analyst for
market research firm IDC's Semiconductor Group. "New, quickly expanding
applications like IPTV are further driving the need for innovative mixed signal
semiconductor devices, providing more opportunity for market-leading companies."
"We're a broad incumbent player in this market, with an extensive offering,"
said Steve McClure, vice president of marketing for Teridian. "The bulk of our
shipments have been going into digital cable and satellite set-top boxes, though
now we're seeing our market expand into new high-growth areas such as secondary
smart card slots for e-payment, IP set-top boxes, personal video recorders,
next-generation terrestrial boxes supporting pay TV, and digital TVs with
integrated STB functions."
McClure continued, "We're thrilled about reaching such a significant milestone,
and plan to continue driving this industry forward with an aggressive roadmap to
extend intelligent integration within multi-media systems. Part of that strategy
includes unveiling a new modem-related IC later this quarter."
Related Channels:
Chips,
Video/IPTV
Motorola integrates Docsis 3.0 into its broadband services router (BSR)
software release
Motorola, Inc. Wednesday announced that support for DOC
