Siemens shoving its way into IPTV

Siemens Communications said today it has now installed it Surpass Home Entertainment portfolio in more than 75 U.S. regional operators, making it the most widely deployed IPTV system in the country. On an access line count basis, the vendor claims it now covers more than 38 million broadband lines.

At the heart of the Surpass system is middleware the company acquired through the purchase of Myrio. Deeper in the network, Siemens is banking on its centralized back-office management platforms that let carriers brand and tailor the look and feel of all user interfaces, including program guides and Web portals.

Though not often thought of as an IPTV vendor, Siemens is working on changing that image by pushing its vision of convergence.

“I want to go up into the solutions business,: said Harald Braun, president of Siemens’ Carrier Networks division, noting that he recently led a reorganization that brought together wireline and wireless units into a single group.

Though its heritage certainly is in the traditional telco market, the first company to deploy a reasonable facsimile of that vision will be a cable operator, Braun said.

“We’re starting to see some people now jump over and go to IMS,” he said. “We will deploy a quad play with a major cable operating this year. The MSOs don’t debate; they just do it. That’s putting tremendous pressure on the telcos.”

Perhaps one of the ways the company could change its image is by landing a top-tier telco in the U.S. So for, the company’s IPTV customer list is populated mostly with mid-sized and smaller independents including Consolidated Communications, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, CT Communications and South Slope Cooperative Communications. Internationally, it’s a different story, with Siemens counting KPN Royal Dutch Telecom and Belgacom and Thailand’s Advanced Datanetwork Communications among its customers.

Being mentioned in the same breath domestically with Alcatel and Tellabs will require providing boxes as well as high-touch services and support, something Braun is prepared to do.

“Siemens as a company will be in the infrastructure business, but even we’ll grow vertically in the applications,” he said. “You have 10-15 moving parts in these services, but the companies like BellSouth want one neck to grab.”