Network equipment vendor Alcatel (Quote) will join Microsoft
(Quote) to market IP Television (IPTV) products to broadband providers worldwide, the companies announced today.
The agreement combines Alcatel's access and integration technologies with
Microsoft TV IPTV Edition. The aim is to produce offerings that help service
providers reduce the costs and complexity of rollouts.
"We are excited to cooperate with Microsoft and benefit from its leadership
in TV software delivery platforms and innovative consumer experiences
delivered across devices in the multimedia-connected home," Serge Tchuruk,
Alcatel's CEO, said in a statement.
The companies already have a number of common customers. The first use of
the combined offering could be deployed later this year, Moshe Lichtman,
corporate vice president of Microsoft's television division, said in a statement.
Microsoft has been enjoying some success
with its IPTV platform. (IPTV also dovetails with Microsoft's oft-touted digital home strategy.)
Bellsouth (Quote), SBC (Quote) and Verizon (Quote)
are committed to using it for trials or general availability of IPTV.
IPTV is a crucial piece of the regional telecoms' multi-billion-dollar plans
to use fiber-optic cable to deliver a "triple-play" bundle of television,
phone and high-speed Internet services to consumers. There have also been
rumblings of providing IPTV over souped-up DSL lines.
Both delivery methods are part of the telecoms' strategy to compete with
cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner (Quote) at their own game.
Under today's pact, Microsoft and Alcatel will develop and
customize new applications that are specific to different cultures around
the world.
They will also focus on security and digital rights management technologies
and enhance applications and network resiliency to improve the reliability
of large deployments. Financial terms were not disclosed.
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