Swisscom launches Microsoft IPTV

Switzerland’s incumbent telco launched an IPTV service today similar to AT&T’s U-Verse service.

Swisscom’s service was originally scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2005 but has been delayed due to technological problems the carrier has not explicitly described. The DSL-based service employs Microsoft’s IPTV middleware, which has been reported as the source of deployment delays at both AT&T and Verizon Communications.

Swisscom is the third European carrier to launch IPTV with Microsoft’s help in recent months, following France’s Club Internet and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.

Bluewin TV, as the Swiss service is known, includes 100 television channels, 500 video-on-demand titles and access to pay-per-view programming. A personal video recorder that accompanies the service can store up to 100 hours of programming.

Swisscom is using VDSL to deliver the service to 2 million households, and it is using ADSL to reach another 300,000 homes. ADSL users will have a more limited experience, as their slower connection speeds prevent them from receiving more than one channel at a time (for example, they won’t be able to watch one channel and record another simultaneously).

The VDSL network brings Bluewin TV to 65% of Swiss households, while the entire network reaches 75% of Swiss homes.

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