UTStarcom, Inc., a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services, announced that China Netcom has signed a contract for the deployment of UTStarcom's RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution in Harbin in the Heilongjiang in northeast China. This deal represents the single largest IPTV capacity deployment in China to date.

"We believe that UTStarcom's IPTV technology and service epitomizes the evolution of network and service convergence," said Ying Wu, chief executive officer of UTStarcom China. "We believe the Harbin case indicates that a typical business model and value chain for IPTV in China is emerging and that there are large market opportunities and consumer demand throughout many regions. With this contract, UTStarcom continues to prove its position at the forefront of real-world IPTV deployments with the largest number of subscribers."

The contract is based on a commercial trial that was launched in May 2005. The initial deployment had a capacity of 100,000 concurrent media streams, covering the major metropolitan areas of the city. Currently, the service offers channels of live broadcast television with "time-shifting" capabilities, 48-hour TV-on-demand, and approximate 5,600 hours of video-on-demand. At the same time, there are value-added services, such as on-line weather report, information browsing, and searching services available in the service package as well. The service has accumulated approximately 53,000 subscribers to date. UTStarcom has also announced commercial contracts in Shanghai and Fuzhou and Quanzhou in the Fujian Province, with an initial combined capacity of over 50,000 media streams.