Open IPTV Forum adds new members, preps new specs

July 1, 2008 - The Open IPTV Forum has added eleven new members at a recent meeting held at the headquarters of Telefónica in Madrid, and reports that the first release of its new specifications are close to completion.

The new members are Fastweb, Swisscom, Access Company, BeeTV, Digital Fountain, Intel, InterTrust Technology Corporation, Motorola, Opera Software, Thomson and ZyXEL, and together they bring the total membership to 37 companies. Yun Chao Hu, Chairman of the Open IPTV Forum, commented: "These new members represent a wide range of interest and broaden the input to the Forum's activities both technically and geographically; they reinforce the Forum's presence in the USA, with four new member companies (Digital Fountain, Intel, InterTrust Technology Corporation and Motorola) and establish the Forum's presence in Taiwan (ZyXel)."

Commenting on the new open standard specifications, intended to allow IPTV to develop into a mass market service globally, Mr. Hu said:  "Work on the new specifications is progressing fast. The Forum has already produced the first version of a Service and Platform Requirements document and the first architecture specification. We are now working round the clock to meet our target of publishing Release 1 in September this year. Release 1 will solve the problem of fragmentation within the market by standardising an IPTV framework, enabling a 'plug and play' experience for the end-user and, by ensuring interoperability, will make IPTV independent of the technology behind it."

The Open IPTV Forum was founded by Telecom Italia, Ericsson, FT Group, Nokia Siemens Networks, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony.