Press Release

30 November 2009

Asian players PCCW and Allion make Open IPTV Forum reach 60 members

The Open IPTV Forum is delighted to announce that is has achieved another membership milestone, with PCCW (Hong Kong's premier telecommunications provider) and Allion (a leading independent testing organisation) taking Forum membership to 60. The addition of two strong Asian organisations represents continued growth in both awareness and relevance of the Forum's activities in such an important region.

PCCW Limited is Hong Kong's premier telecommunications provider and a world-class player in Information and Communications Technologies. As the provider of Hong Kong's first quadruple-play experience, PCCW offers a range of innovative media content and services across four platforms - fixed-line, broadband Internet access, mobile and TV. It operates "now TV", which is one of the world's largest commercial IPTV deployments and Hong Kong's largest pay-TV provider. In addition to quad-play products, PCCW meets the sophisticated needs of the local and international business community, while supporting network operators with cutting-edge technical services and handling large-scale IT outsourcing projects for public and private sector organizations.

Allion Test Labs, Inc. is a leading independent testing organization, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Allion conducts integrated testing services for computers, mobile devices, digital products and consumer electronics. Being the world's largest logo compliance test centre, Allion is in a unique position to managing a complex QA and testing process in various production stages.

Paul Berriman, CTO of PCCW said: "As PCCW has been a very important player in the IPTV business for some time, we have sought to join the Open IPTV Forum in order to align ourselves with their specifications and ultimately migrate the non-aligned parts of our existing home-grown platform to those standards. We self-developed the present IPTV platform at a time when alternative platforms or standards did not exist, but we do believe in standards going forward as it will enable us to use more off-the-shelf elements in future. We also believe that with the experience gained as one of the earliest and largest deployments of IPTV, we can also contribute significantly to the development of future standards."

Summer Chien, President of Allion Test Labs, Inc. said: "Quality is the ultimate achievement for any new technology or industry standard - Allion wishes to deliver our experience and expertise through TV product testing within the Open IPTV Forum".

For further information about this news release, please contact: Claire d'Esclercs [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 specifications because they recognise that combining the expertise of all involved will help to streamline and accelerate deployments of IPTV technologies. Their aim is to make the next generation of IPTV a mass market service and to maximise the benefits of IPTV for consumers as well as the industry.

For further information about the Forum, visit www.oipf.tv

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