November 6, 2007
This weekly e-mail newsletter covers everything related to Telco-IP Television.
Verizon Targets 150 HD Nets in 2008
Verizon— right along with the cable industry — has been feeling the heat from DirecTV's marketing campaign promising “up to 100” high-definition channels this year. To try to parry the satellite thrust, Verizon last week announced FiOS TV will deliver a lineup of 150 linear high-definition channels and 1,000 HD on-demand titles by the end of 2008, and that it plans to launch “a major expansion of sports and multicultural programming” next year.
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AT&T Wins Connecticut Franchise
The ruling from Connecticut Superior Court in Hartford was a setback for Comcast, Cablevision Systems and other cable TV operators that face accelerated competition from AT&T in Connecticut. The state court’s decision prompted the state's Department of Public Utility Controls to grant AT&T a Certificate of Video Franchise Authority for its U-verse TV service.
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FCC Strikes Down Cable’s Apartment Deals
Cable operators can’t enforce exclusive contracts with apartment building owners or sign new ones under a sweeping prohibition unanimously adopted by the Federal Communications Commission last Wednesday. FCC chairman Kevin Martin promoted the ruling as an effort to ensure that the 90 million Americans who reside in multiple-dwelling units (MDUs) were not entirely locked out by contract from sampling pay-video services provided by AT&T and Verizon Communications.
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Verizon Cracks 700,000 Subscribers for FiOS
Verizon increased the number of FiOS TV subscribers 39% in the third quarter, adding 202,000 net new customers to stand at 717,000 total at the end of September. The telco, which announced the figures as part of its earnings Monday, said it now has more than 1.5 million total video customers, including those who subscribe to DirecTV’s satellite service. Verizon reported having 515,000 FiOS TV subs at the end of June.
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Microsoft Takes IPTV to India in $500M Deal
Reliance Communications, a telecommunications provider based in Mumbai, signed a deal with Microsoft valued at $500 million giving it the exclusive rights to deploy the software company’s Internet Protocol TV platform in India.
Reliance, which has more than 20 million customers, said it expects to launch an IPTV service based on Microsoft’s Mediaroom software platform sometime before March 2008. The phone company claimed its IPTV service will be the first to provide high-definition TV content in India, and will also include video-on-demand, digital video recording and personal media sharing. [back to top]
More U-verse TV Households in Detroit Area
AT&T said U-verse TV is now available to 300,000 living units in Southeast Michigan, and the telco is touting its carriage of Big Ten Network as part of marketing the service in the region against incumbent cable provider Comcast. AT&T, which launched U-verse in the Detroit area in May, now offers the service as far south as Wyandotte, Mich., and as far north as Lake Orion.
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Windstream to Offer TiVo-Plus-Internet Bundle
Telecommunications provider Windstream Communications announced an agreement with TiVo to offer bundled Internet and digital video recorder services. The bundled offering provides subscribers with access to a broad array of downloadable content via TiVoCast and Amazon Unbox service in addition to streaming access to over 4 million songs via Rhapsody. Subscribers will also receive TiVo features including Season Pass recordings and WishList searches. Windstream plans to begin marketing TiVo in the first half of 2008. Specific pricing and financial terms of this agreement were not disclosed. Windstream resells EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network service.
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• Verizon is rolling out the Hispanic Information Telecommunications Network, a Spanish-language network that offers educational and cultural programming, in all its FiOS TV markets.
• Ruckus Wireless announced a deal with T-Home, a division of Deutsche Telekom, to supply Wi-Fi systems to enable in-home wireless distribution of IPTV services.
• Verizon launched FiOS TV service in Holliston, Mass., challenging incumbent cable TV operator Comcast in the town of 5,000 households.
• The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions released its High Level OSS/BSS Functional Requirements and Reference Architecture for IPTV standard.
• The MultiService Forum, a global association of service providers, system suppliers and test equipment vendors, announced plans for a worldwide multivendor interoperability test environment for end-to-end practical network deployment set for Q4 2008 that supports the MSF Release 4 architecture.
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