|
March 21, 2006
Deutsche Telekom Signs Up for Microsoft TV
By Patrick Barnard, TMCnet Associate Editor
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest communications company and one of the largest communications carriers worldwide, has selected Microsoft’s IPTV (News - Alert) software platform for the delivery of digital TV services to consumers across Germany.
As per an agreement between the two companies, Deutsche Telekom will use the new platform, called Microsoft (News - Alert) TV IPTV Edition, to deliver standard- and high-definition programming to millions of consumers over its VDSL broadband networks. The company has reportedly been testing the platform for the past several months.
“In recent months, the experts at T-Online have run the Microsoft TV platform through extensive tests, and we are convinced that we will be able to offer excellent-quality IPTV services that will expand as we need them to,” said Kai-Uwe Ricke, chairman of the board of management for Deutsche Telekom, in a press release. “IPTV delivered via VDSL will enable better, more service-oriented, more interactive and, above all, more customized television. With this advanced television service, Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft are writing another chapter in our long-standing cooperation, tapping new markets and together exploring exciting new growth opportunities.”
Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, said the deal represents Microsoft’s “largest IPTV agreement in Europe to date.”
“Working together, Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom will help create a revolution in TV entertainment for consumers across Germany,” Ballmer said in the release. “With its rapidly growing customer base, and the power of next-generation technologies like IPTV, Deutsche Telekom has the potential to deliver exciting new connected-entertainment services across the range of consumer devices in the home.”
The news follows Microsoft’s announcement on March 8 that European carrier Telecom Italia had selected the IPTV platform to deliver digital TV services in France.
Telecom Italia and Deutsche Telekom join North American carriers SBC Communications (AT&T (News - Alert)) and Verizon (News - Alert) as the first commercial customers to successfully deploy the new platform, which Microsoft first unveiled in February 2005.
Microsoft’s foray into IPTV got off to a rocky start in May of last year when Switzerland’s largest carrier, Swisscom, which had decided to trial the new platform, was forced to delay the rollout of its IPTV services due to technical glitches and a lack of available set-top boxes. Things got worse about a month later, when Australian carrier Telstra also dropped out of Microsoft’s IPTV early-adopter program, also due to technical problems.
Since then, things seem to have taken a turn for the better. Certainly, the recent deals with Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia signal that the platform has lived up to carriers’ expectations (and Microsoft’s promises) - despite some initial problems. According to published reports, several other U.S. carriers are currently testing the platform.
As per the agreement between the two companies, Microsoft will assist Deutsche Telekom in marketing its new IPTV services in Germany.
Among the services included in the IPTV rollout are interactive TV, digital video recording and video on demand. The video recorder will enable viewers to “time shift” programs at their convenience, pausing live shows or recording them to enjoy later. In addition, an onDemand Collections feature will allow viewers to access feature films, TV series or documentaries at the touch of a button.
Deutsche Telekom claims its VDSL network, which is currently being extended by T-Com, will deliver bandwidth speeds of up to 50 Mbps. The upgraded network, which will serve ten major cities (including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Munich), is expected to be substantially complete by the middle of this year.
Microsoft announced in February of last year that it was partnering with global network solutions provider Alcatel (News - Alert) in the development of its IPTV platform.
“Alcatel and Microsoft expect that this precedent-setting agreement between a leading provider of Triple Play (voice, data, video) solutions and a leading provider of software solutions will help expand the quickly-growing ecosystem of IPTV industry partners and enable telecommunication providers to take advantage of global economies of scale fueled by large-scale IPTV deployments planned across the globe,” Microsoft said in a press release. “The Alcatel/Microsoft integrated solution can help IPTV service providers reduce deployment costs and shorten time-to-market for IPTV services as they transition to mass-market deployments of IPTV.”
For more information about Deutsche Telekom, visit http://www.telekom.de/international.
For more information about Microsoft, visit http://www.microsoft.com.
Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
(source: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-iptv-digital-microsoft-tv-deutsche-telekom-/2006/03/21/1477766.htm)
|
|
Internet Telephony Magazine
Click here to read latest issue
CUSTOMER 
Cloud Computing Magazine
Click here to read latest issue
IoT EVOLUTION MAGAZINE
