Belgacom wants television-on-demand but no firm plans for HDTV yet, despite VDSL network upgrades

Deutsche Telekom preparing for IPTV this year but will face competition from ISPs

AOL, HanseNet and Freenet likely candidates for early alternatives

IPTV is a multi-billion dollar gamble but Telcos do not have any choice but to deliver content 

Shelly Palmer, chairman of the Advanced Media Committee of the National Television Academy, ponders the battle between Telcos and cable operators in the wider context of broadcast vs on-demand (Taken from the September edition of IPTV News Analyst)

When will IPTV realise the rich promise of interactive television, including personalised look&feel?

All the IPTV middleware suppliers are in some stage of responding to the Tier-1 operators’ need to integrate with existing and new platforms. But after that becomes available, what next? By Steve Hawley (Taken from the September edition of IPTV News Analyst)

Brazil’s three fixed telephony concessionaires seek slice of the broadband television market

Brasil Telecom, Telemar and Telefónica plan to launch video services via broadband by year-end. Brasil Telecom says IPTV is its highest priority today, and begins its pilot in Brasilia with 300 clients. By Branislav Pekic, ( Taken from the August Edition of IPTV News Analyst)

Most telcos will have to cooperate for IPTV or deliver wholesale services, Ovum predicts

By John Moulding

Ovum, the analyst and consulting company, is predicting that the majority of incumbent telecoms operators launching IPTV services will eventually end up as wholesale network providers who support third-party television offers over their networks, or working in a cooperative relationship with companies who acquire and aggregate television content for transmission over their networks.

Notable IPTV trends are highlighted at IPTV World Forum Asia

By John Moulding

This year's IPTV World Forum Asia conference and exhibition, held in Shanghai on September 27-29, uncovered a number of interesting themes that have a relevance far beyond the Asia-Pacific region. These included:

Think IPTV…..Think Support Automation

By James Morehead, SupportSoft Inc. vice president of product management and marketing

In today’s competitive market, telcos worldwide are facing significant market challenges to increase revenue. Developments such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) have contributed to decreasing prices of individual services. To remain competitive with traditional telco and cable companies, digital service providers (DSPs) are putting together more complex offerings, such as IPTV services, and offering “triple play” bundles that include IPTV, VoIP and high speed data services.

IPTV – when will it all come together?

Exhibitions feature it; magazines write about it; whole conferences are dedicated to it. But not a lot of people are doing it. Indeed, we cannot even agree on what it is. Yann Courqueux of Grass Valley looks at IPTV

The Keys to Digital Home Success

By Kenny Van Zant, executive vice president of marketing & products at Motive, Inc.

The Digital Home offers consumers exciting new options for entertainment, education and work, giving service providers a tremendous opportunity to grow their customer base and increase revenues. By delivering a full suite of quadruple-play services (voice, video, data and wireless), providers can become an integral part of their customers’ lives and create strong brand loyalty.