Press Release
01 July 2008
IPTV is coming…
Efforts
to accelerate the deployment of IPTV by combining
the expertise of key telecom operators, consumer
electronics manufacturers and network infrastructure
providers in the Open IPTV Forum are gathering
further momentum, and the first release of the
specifications that will allow IPTV to develop into
a mass market service is close to completion.
At its meeting at the headquarters of Telefónica in
Madrid from 10-13 June, the Open IPTV Forum, the
pan-industry initiative that was established to
produce the end-to-end solution specification which
will open up access to the interactive and
personalised services offered by IPTV, significantly
expanded its membership. These companies join the
founding members – Ericsson, FT Group, Nokia Siemens
Networks, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony and
Telecom Italia – and many other major IPTV industry
players from the communications and entertainment
industries (www.openiptvforum.org/members.html),
bringing to 37 the number of companies which are
working together in the Forum.
| Access Company |
Motorola |
|
BeeTV |
Opera Software |
|
FastWeb |
Thomson |
|
Digital Fountain |
Swisscom |
|
Intel |
ZyXEL |
| Intertrust Technologies Corporation |
Yun Chao Hu, Chairman of the 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).
“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.”
Over the coming months, the Forum will be exhibiting at
some of the world’s largest consumer entertainment
industry events:
|
|
|
|
Members of the Forum will be speaking at these events, and will be delighted to meet potential new members to discuss the work of the Forum and the future of IPTV. Interviews with the press can also be arranged.
For further information about this news release, please
contact:
Claire d’Esclercs, Secretary of the Open IPTV
Forum, [email protected]
NOTES FOR EDITORS
IPTV
(Internet Protocol Television
or
Interactive Personalised Television) is
a system where a
digital television service is delivered using
Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure,
which may include delivery by a
broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV
is television content that, instead of being delivered
through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is
received by the viewer through the technologies used for
computer networks. With IPTV, the television screen
becomes a means of communication, allowing the viewer to
interact with the service. It will have numerous
applications, for example, in video on demand, shopping,
for special needs, quiz shows, voting in television
shows etc.
The Open IPTV Forum
is fully open to participants from across the
communications and entertainment industries, and brings
together network operators, content providers, service
providers, consumer electronics manufacturers and home
and network infrastructure providers. The members of the
Open IPTV Forum are working together on the development
of open standards because they recognise that
combining the expertise of all involved will help to
streamline and accelerate deployments of IPTV
technologies. Their aim is to take the next generation
of IPTV into a mass market service and maximise the
benefits of IPTV for consumers as well as the industry.
For more information, visit www.openiptvforum.org