IPTV World Forum - Amdocs, the leading provider of software and services to enable integrated customer management and the intentional customer experience, today announced the availability of its IP Convergence Solution for IPTV, a unique, comprehensive solution that allows service providers to offer digital content and entertainment services to solidify customer loyalty, while ensuring company growth. The solution combines Amdocs consulting and implementation services, the recently announced Amdocs 6 portfolio of integrated, modular products and solutions from an extensive IPTV partner ecosystem, including Bitband, Intel, Kasenna, NagraVision, NDS, OpenTV and Orca Interactive. Amdocs is already working with Microsoft on the implementation of a major IP convergence project for a Tier 1 Wireline service provider including the roll- out of IPTV services.

IPTV services are expected to provide a powerful growth engine for communication service providers (CSPs). According to research firm MRG Inc. August 2004 projections, the worldwide IPTV subscriber base is expected to increase from 2.1 million to 27 million people by 2008, representing an annual compound growth rate of 89 percent. Given these growth rates, more than 100 CSPs worldwide have initiated IPTV service trials. Commercialization of these services will require a major organizational and technological transformation. Amdocs and its partners are at the forefront of enabling this change.



"Communication service providers are looking to create a competitive advantage in this converging market and to deliver an intentional and superior customer experience across the complete package of services, customer touch points and devices," said Michael Matthews, chief marketing officer of Amdocs. "Amdocs has invested significantly in products, services and industry expertise to enable CSPs to successfully transform their business and take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that these new services and business models will provide. Together with our partners we offer an unbeatable solution."

Most recently, Amdocs IP Convergence Solution for IPTV, along with Microsoft, was selected to support a major wireline carrier's IP-based network and services roll-out. This solution will provide complete customer-lifecycle management capabilities, integrating all front- and back-office systems to support VoIP, broadband and IPTV. As announced on January 19, 2005, Amdocs will also provide implementation and systems integration services to this customer.

Amdocs is working with IPTV market-leading players in network transport, middleware, video delivery (including personal video recorder), digital rights management, conditional access management, as well as set top box and platform providers. The Amdocs solution leverages the Amdocs 6 modular billing, content revenue management, CRM, self service (including TV-based), ordering, and mediation products, integrated with multiple partners including, Orca Interactive's client and middleware and Intel's scalable Itanium and Xeon processor-based server architectures. By combining these products with Amdocs' consulting capabilities, communication service providers are able to transform themselves into agile, customer-centric businesses, creating an intentional customer experience at all touch-points. Other interactive TV market leaders that support Amdocs' IPTV solution include Bitband, Kasenna, NagraVision, NDS and OpenTV.

"Intel and Amdocs share a common view of enabling the delivery of rich content and services to the digital home. Amdocs' IP Convergence Solution for IPTV, using scalable Intel(r) Itanium (r) and Intel Xeon (r) processor-based platforms, enables service providers to efficiently manage a complete multi- service offering for large numbers of subscribers and innovative real-time billing for these services," said Dalibor Vrsalovic, vice president and general manager of Intel's Service Providers Program Office. "We are looking forward to working with Amdocs on delivering end-to-end digital home solutions."

"This solution is designed to help operators achieve integrated customer management by aligning customer facing systems with IPTV services, such as broadcast TV over IP, Video-on-Demand, pay-per-view, games, and other interactive TV services," said Haggai Barel, CEO of ORCA. "This enables service providers to offer competitive bundles and promotions, resulting in increased subscriber satisfaction, loyalty, and spend."

The solution will be expanded in the coming months to include Amdocs' market leading products for the media and advertising industry. This will enable CSPs to generate incremental revenue through targeted on-screen advertising for small and medium sized companies.

Visit Amdocs at http://www.amdocs.com.