IPTV grows fivefold in two years

The DSL Forum released IPTV penetration statistics this week that chart a fivefold increase in subscribers from 2005 to mid-2007. As of June 30, the worldwide subscriber base for IPTV services reached 8.2 million, up from nearly 1.5 million on the same date in 2005.

Europe accounts for more than 60 percent of subscriber base, with nearly 5 million households hooked up to IPTV, half of them in France. The Asia Pacific region is next, with nearly 2.2 million. Hong Kong is the anchor there, with 938,000 subscribers. The Americas combined have just over 1 million IPTV subscribers.

The research was carried out by Point-Topic, a research firm in London. Point-Topic senior analyst John Bosnell said content and "clear bundle pricing" attract subscribers to IPTV. It also helps that the technology has cleared the tipping point.

What is IPTV?

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using the Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection.

For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP. The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as a Triple Play.

Adding the mobile voice service leads to the Quadruple Play denomination. IPTV is typically supplied by a broadband operator using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet. This type of delivery is widely called TV over Internet or Internet Television.

In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate LANs and business networks. Perhaps a simpler definition of IPTV would be television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional formats and cabling, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.

IPTV is moving rapidly towards mass-market adoption. The involvement of incumbent telecoms operators in most major markets by 2007 (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, for example) will provide the marketing, word-of-mouth and - for the many conservative-minded television viewers yet to switch to digital TV - the credibility that could boost the market for all IPTV providers.

Several early IPTV deployments are now reaching subscriber figures where they must be taken seriously, including Telefonica in Spain, which has over 200,000 subscribers for its Imagenio television service (launched commercially November 2004). The Spanish company is predicting one million customers by 2008. France Telecom (launched December 2003) doubled its customer count during 2005, ending the year with 200,000 subscribers for its MaLigne TV service too.

The pace of deployment is accelerating: Telekom Austria launched its aonDigitalTV video-over-DSL service in Vienna in March 2006 and KPN in the Netherlands is preparing for a second quarter (2006) commercial launch. Deutsche Telekom is hoping to roll out its 100 channel broadcast TV (including HDTV) and VOD service late summer 2006 and BT has scheduled late summer/autumn for its hybrid DSL/DTT offering.

Competition is also increasing. Utility companies continue to launch television services but the main rivals to the big telcos are alternative broadband providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The second half of 2006 and 2007 will also see the expansion of incumbent telcos into territories outside their domestic markets - where necessary using LLU to compete with their peers on ‘leased’ networks.

France Telecom has already announced that it will launch IPTV in Spain, the UK and Poland this year, followed by the Netherlands (not to mention Mauritius, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). Meanwhile Telecom Italia - through its subsidiary HanseNet - is adding television to its existing telephone and DSL services in Germany, starting in Hamburg. Telecom Italia also launched television services in France (via Telecom Italia France’s AliceBox triple-play service) in January. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Online is taking IPTV to Hungary, with a planned commercial roll-out of TV-over-DSL in Budapest and other major cities later this year.

And to add further spice to this market, existing Pay TV operators from the satellite and cable world are buying into DSL. BSkyB bought UK DSL network provider Easynet in January (2006) to give itself a two-way network and exploit the “exciting opportunities that now exist to combine quality entertainment with significant high-speed connections.” Europe’s largest satellite TV provider has told investors that it intends to introduce IPTV some time after 2007. Meanwhile, UPC Austria (part of the pan-European UPC group owned by Liberty Global) has agreed to acquire the Austrian xDSL provider Inode - so establishing a national footprint, initially for high-speed data and voice.

All this activity is underpinned by network upgrades across the continent, with BT in the UK now committed to delivering ADSL speeds up 8Mbps from 5,300 telephone exchanges in the UK - putting broadband in reach of 99.6 per cent of the country. France Telecom and Telefonica, among others, are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service.

So with high-speed networks available and expanding their reach, multiple service launches and growing subscriber figures, the big questions are how much market share IPTV providers can take from satellite and cable, and whether they can make money - if indeed, video revenues are their real motive rather than simply reducing churn on voice/data customers. Are there digital TV newcomers who will choose IPTV ahead of digital terrestrial - and are these the customers IPTV providers want? And can companies differentiate their services sufficiently from cable and satellite to tempt existing Pay TV subscribers away from them?

Internet protocol television (IPTV) is seen as a big future money-spinner for telecoms firms

Ericsson Bids $1.4B for Tandberg TV, Tops Arris

STOCKHOLM—Telecom equipment maker Ericsson on Monday offered 9.8 billion crowns ($1.38 billion) cash for Norway's Tandberg Television, topping an earlier accepted bid from Arris Group.

Ericsson, which in December paid $2.1 billion for network equipment vendor Redback, said it was bidding 106 Norwegian crowns ($17.23) for each Tandberg share.

The offer represents an 18.2 percent premium to Tandberg's volume-weighted average price over the last three months and is 10.4 percent above the 96 crowns offered by Arris, a U.S. communications technology company.

Analysts had long expected a counter-bid for Tandberg TV, saying the company had a strong foothold in a market revved up by fast-growing bandwidth and demand for television systems.

Shares in Tandberg, which offers a range of video and TV services over the Internet, shot up 11.5 percent to 111.75 crowns by 1235 GMT.

Ericsson shares were 0.6 percent higher at 26.05 crowns.

Paul Handeland, analyst at ABG Sundal Collier in Oslo, said Ericsson's deep pockets would probably scare off Arris, but that other systems operators, such as German giant Siemens or France's Alcatel-Lucent, may be interested.

"Tandberg TV is trading above the bid price due to market belief in either a bumped-up bid by Ericsson or a potential competing bid ... possibly from the likes of Siemens or Alcatel-Lucent," Handeland said.

Ericsson said it had bought 11.7 percent of Tandberg shares and that owners of another 13 percent had signed on to its bid.

Swedish holding company Industrivarden said it sold its 7.4 percent stake in Tandberg to Ericsson, while Norwegian conglomerate Orkla sold it a 3-4 percent stake.

"IPTV for cable and telecom operators is the biggest networked multimedia opportunity going forward," Ericsson Chief Executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement.

"Ericsson and Tandberg Television is a strong combination with a unique ability to offer complete IPTV solutions."

Tandberg had revenues of $350 million in 2006 and made an operating profit of $56 million.

"Strategically it is sensible, and raising exposure to the IPTV segment is something they have talked about," said one analyst, who added that the price was reasonable.

In mid-January, Arris bid $1.2 billion in cash and stock—or 96 crowns per share—for Tandberg, an offer that Tandberg TV's board recommended to shareholders.

Tandberg said it would review Ericsson's offer. Its Chief Financial Officer, Fraser Park, declined to say if he thought the Ericsson bid was friendly or hostile, but said the company would maintain contact with Arris.

eWorld Interactive, Inc. Set to Acquire Mojo Mediaworks to Bring Leading Content to the People's Republic of China

SHANGHAI, CHINA, Feb 20, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) --

eWorld Interactive, Inc. (the "Company", "eWorld") (OTCBB: EWIN) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire Mojo Mediaworks Limited ("Mojo") and its subsidiaries. Mojo Mediaworks Limited, currently operates in the USA, China and Philippines, engages in self-developed contents tailored for the China and Philippines Markets in the form of casual online games (Slingo), Interactive TV/SMS Game show (Slingo Interactive Games show) and contents sourced from international developers and other Hollywood majors such as the CBS Paramount TV reality drama (America's Next Top Model - China version) and mobile games (America's Next Top Model Mobile Games). Mojo Mediaworks Co., Ltd. will create "integrated cross media platforms viewership" bundles, in a fully interactive manner and deliver that to advertisers and broadcasters for revenue generation. Mojo holds a 7 year licensing agreement for the Slingo branded suit of games for S.E. Asia. Slingo is one of the most popular online games with an exciting combination of the best features of bingo and slots. Slingo holds the distinction of being "One of America's most played online games" with over 3 billion games played according to AOL Urc/Slingo.com.

eWorld CEO Guy Peckham stated, "We are delighted to begin working with such a top-notch team that has demonstrated time and time again the ability to bring great programs and games from abroad into the China market. Mojo's connections to leading producers in Hollywood and beyond will ensure a steady stream of exciting and new content creating a rich experience for users on our www.eworldchina.cn platform." The Mojo acquisition will have an immediate impact with the creation of China's Next Top Model which follows the format of the hugely successful American reality series "America's Next Top Model" launching in Q2 of 2007 and the launch of the Slingo platform in China.

"This is a natural fit for content and distribution in China. The eWorld platform will allow Mojo's unique programming to reach millions of users in the near term. eWorld's team have a long history of success in internet gaming in China and we look forward to working together with them to extend that success into the social networking space," concurs Mr. Kin Mak from Mojo.

About eWorld:

eWorld are the developers of eworldchina.cn, an online community focused on entertainment content provided by both leading professional content producers and amateur content produced by users of the website. The online platform allows users to create and define their own personal space in the community then interact with and within the community on multiple levels. Users can interact user-to-user, user-to-group, user-to-club, user-to-community and through voting and rankings. These users then have access to and can interact with entertainment content provided by leading partners and affiliates producing music, television, film, gaming and more. The Company creates circular interaction among its website users and the content programming consumers thus continuously involving the audience. Revenues are derived through a combination of advertising sales, sponsorships and promotions, subscriptions and services fees as well as revenue sharing deals with partners and affiliates.

Contacts: eWorld Interactive, Inc. Guy Peckham CEO 1-38-1613-5001 Website: www.eworldchina.cn

MOJO MEDIA WORKS LICENSES OPENTV PARTICIPATE

First deployment to drive interactive games and gaming business in the Philippines

OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ GM: OPTV), one of the world’s leading providers solutions for the delivery advanced television and cross platform interactive services, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for its OpenTV Participate™ system with Mojo Media Works (Mojo), a Shanghai-based content provider and interactive entertainment operator with operations in mainland China and the Philippines.

Mojo, whose first project with OpenTV is the launch of an extensive multiplatform interactive games and gaming business in the Philippines, will use the OpenTV Participate system as the backbone of its operations. The initial service will involve the management and distribution of the U.S. gaming format Slingo™ via kiosks in boutiques around the country. SMS TV services will be deployed shortly afterwards followed by other platforms such as Web, WAP, and J2ME Mobile applications in the future.

The OpenTV Participate system will allow Mojo to manage their entire business centrally with controlled access available for local boutique managers and cashiers. Mojo will use OpenTV Participate’s single account login and centralized loyalty and CRM modules, allowing them the ability to build an ongoing relationship with their customers from their very first day of operation. OpenTV will also create special engines for Mojo’s unique TV gaming formats as well as provide the powerful OpenTV Participate participation TV module for live TV, web, and SMS-based participation.

David Turnaroff, CEO of Mojo Media Works and a U.S. entertainment industry veteran, says, “We looked far and wide for the right system to manage our vision for the business which uses TV as the primary funnel and multiple platforms as the means of interactive participation. Nothing came close to the power, flexibility, and product features of the OpenTV Participate system, which is effectively our cross platform strategy in a box. Our confidence in the OpenTV Participate product has been enhanced by the highly capable product team whose knowledge adds significantly to our ability to deliver our business plan.”

“We are delighted to be working with Mojo Media Works and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership,” said Mike Ivanchenko, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific at OpenTV. “Mojo is precisely the kind of forward-thinking client the OpenTV Participate system was designed for, and we are excited that they plan to use the full capabilities of the system in such an ambitious way.”

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world’s leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company’s software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit www.opentv.com.

OpenTV Selected by Numericable, France's Largest Cable Operator, for Advanced Digital Television Services

Customer Services to Include High Definition, Video on Demand, and PVR

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (Nasdaq GM: OPTV), a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that YPSO / Numericable, the leading cable broadband operator in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, has selected OpenTV as a key technology partner for the roll-out of its advanced digital television services.

Enabled by OpenTV's latest generation of middleware, OpenTV HTML Browser(TM), OpenTV PVR2(TM), and OpenTV Core2(TM), YPSO / Numericable will be able to select the best STB manufacturers and provide its subscribers interactive TV, PVR, video on demand (VOD), and high definition services. These services will be integrated with the Kudelski Group (SWX Swiss Exchange: KUD) solution set also selected by YPSO / Numericable, which includes solutions from Nagravision, Quative, and Lysis.

Pascal Dormal, Director of Business Development, Altice Group said, "YPSO and Altice have selected OpenTV solutions with integrated PVR, HD, and HTML because it is the most advanced middleware platform in the market. OpenTV provides unmatched portability and a proven track record in supporting the commercial deployment of advanced digital television services such as high definition, personal video recording, and video on demand."

Ben Bennett, OpenTV's Senior Vice President and Managing Director for OpenTV EMEA, said, "OpenTV is extremely proud to be selected as a strategic partner of YPSO / Numericable. This opportunity validates OpenTV's continued leadership position in deployment of its advanced digital television solution for the European broadband industry and we look forward to continuing our long term leadership presence in the French digital television arena."

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.

About YPSO / Numericable YPSO / Numericable offers video, digital and analog, data and voice to 9.5 million homes in France. YPSO / Numericable has been constituted through the acquisition of Est Videocommunication, France Telecom Cable, TDF Cable, NC Numericable, UPC France and Noos, Coditel Brabant and Coditel Luxembourg. For more information, please visit http://www.numericable.fr/.

About the Kudelski Group

The Kudelski Group (SWX: KUD.VX) , is a world leader in digital security. Its technologies are used in a wide range of applications requiring access control and rights management, whether for securing transfer of information (digital television, broadband Internet, video-on-demand, interactive applications, etc.) or to control and manage access of people or vehicles to sites and events. The Kudelski Group is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur- Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit http://www.nagra.com/.

Website: http://www.opentv.com/
Website: http://www.numericable.fr/
Website: http://www.nagra.com/

OpenTV (Strong Buy) Powers NBC's Live Interactive Events on 'Heroes'

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTV) , a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that its OpenTV Participate(TM) solution is powering live, web (PC) based interactive services for the current series of NBC's hit primetime show, "Heroes."

The new 'two screen' interactive services, which are created, scheduled, managed and analyzed using OpenTV Participate's production tools, are being synchronized with the "Heroes" broadcast each Monday night across all continental US time zones. Audiences are invited to interact with the broadcasts by entering live polls and offering their own predictions on the outcome of the storylines, all with real time statistics fed directly to their PCs. NBC is also able to use the OpenTV Participate system to create and manage sponsored polls and questionnaires as well as advertiser brochure requests.

The OpenTV Participate system deployed for "Heroes," which is hosted for NBC by OpenTV at its data center, makes use of one of OpenTV's proprietary technologies designed to enable seamless live updates to be pushed to very large numbers of simultaneous PC users. During the series, NBC creative teams have complete control over the creation and management of all events with detailed analysis of all activity available at producers' desktops during or after the show. Data from all transactions, including data from sponsor calls to action, are stored in a secure database which can be queried for trend and retention analysis using OpenTV Participate's built in CRM tools.

Jon Dakss, NBC's Director of ITV Technology Product Development, said, "The OpenTV Participate solution presented NBC.com with important new options for live two screen interactivity and we felt that a show like 'Heroes,' which has an audience that is seeking out a rich, multi-platform viewing experience, was the ideal show to try it on. The product is also flexible enough for us to experiment with timings and event types during the series, allowing us to explore new ideas on-the-fly."

Arik Faingold, General Manager and CTO for the OpenTV Participate product, said, "The OpenTV Participate team has dedicated significant resources towards enabling seamless cross-platform interactivity on a mass scale and in a single, business-oriented system. We are therefore delighted that NBC has chosen to use OpenTV Participate for such a high-profile primetime show."

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.

About NBC Universal

NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

Website: http://www.opentv.com/