Microsoft makes telco TV play

Microsoft today announced plans to create a new IP television (IPTV) delivery system designed to give cable operators and telcos a platform to provide broadcast as well as other pay TV services.

In a separate announcement the software giant said that both Bell Canada and Reliance Infocomm are using the new platform out of the Microsoft TV division to create new IPTV. Additionally, the company will be demonstrating its solution during Bill Gates’ keynote speech at next week’s ITU Telecom World 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland.

"Our IP TV solution is a result of work we have done with telecom operators over the past 12 months," said Moshe Lichtman, corporate vice president and head of the Microsoft TV Division.

For cable operators, the platform is designed as an extension of their existing offerings, he said. "They can offer new services and a whole bunch of improvements to its current base of pay TV consumers."

For telcos, though, the Microsoft solution will combine Windows Media 9 series compression technology along with Harmonic’s and Tandberg Television’s encoding solutions, Juniper Networks’ routers, Intel’s silicon and Pace Micro Technology’s and Thomson’s set-top boxes.