In its continuous commitment to deliver highest possible QoS and QoE to Asia's highest IPTV subscribers' base of over 300,000 subscribers, ChuangHwa Telecom of Taiwan has again expanded their bulk purchase of AnaCise WatchiTV portable analyzers.

Offering both Multicast and Unicast services, CHT demands a comprehensive analyzer to assist and ensure all inherent technical challenges are overcome, ranging from STB boot up time, channel zapping time, packet lost in VOD stream among those complex protocol stacks, etc.

"WatchiTV Portable has been chosen again as it raises the bar in terms of commitment to quality and excellence as a STB simulator, MPEG Measurement, IPTV System Performance, STB Booting Monitor, IPTV Control signal Analysis while addressing real needs of CHT quest's for speedy problem solving for optimum IPTV service delivery. We're glad to honor AnaCise relentless effort of improvement and accomplishments and look forward to more innovative solutions from them in the future." said CHT spoke person.

Reuters is reporting that India's IOL Broadband will spend $103 million over the next two years on physical infrastructure and content acquisition for its new IPTV service.

"We will be commercially launching IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) in the next two to three months and we plan to increase our subscriber base substantially next year," director A.S. Oberai told Reuters.

Irdeto and Huawei Technologies have signed an agreement with Pakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd (PTCL) to provide an end-to-end IPTV solution to the 1 tier telecom operator. PTCL expects to launch the new IPTV service for a first-phase group of 20,000 subscribers in the first half of 2007.

Huawei's IPTV equipment has been integrated with the Irdeto IPTV content security solution, which encrypts and protects content from the VOD server to the set-top box on broadband platforms. As part of the new agreement, Irdeto's content security technology for IPTV, combined with Huawei's middleware, video-on-demand server and set-top boxes, will be supplied to PTCL.

IOL Broadband has launched India's first IP-based on-demand television service using software, servers and middleware from SeaChange International.

Leveraging the networks of India's government-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL), IOL Broadband offers an on-demand line-up including Bollywood and Hollywood hits and music videos in Mumbai. Other IOL Broadband IPTV services include interactive gaming, video conferencing, an "e-education" channel and live financial data from the Bombay Stock Exchange.

According to the Shanghai Daily, Beijing TV has become the sixth company to obtain an IPTV license in China. The previous five are reported to have gone to Shanghai Media Group, China Central Television International, Southern Media Corporation, China Radio International, and China National Radio.

Netris and Central Telegraph, a Russian telecommunications company, announced a successful IPSoft iVision IPTV Middleware deployment as a core platform for digital television service delivery for Central Telegraph' United Multiservice Network (QWERTY network) subscribers. According to a long-term agreement, Netris has deployed its platform for interactive service delivery, IPSoft iVision IPTV Middleware, and will provide to Central Telegraph ongoing support and future development services.

Corvette Telecom and its subsidiary, City TV, have selected the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) to provide digital video content security throughout their new IPTV network. Corvette telecom is launching the IPTV and Video-on-Demand services under the City TV brand name in 2007 to meet growing demand for sophisticated entertainment options.

Corvette is building last mile fibre networks in Moscow, offering customers broadband Internet connectivity at up to 100 mb/s and is expected to reach more than 600,000 homes by the end of 2007.

Kasenna is working with Business Computer Center (BCC), a System Integrator based in St. Petersburg, Russia, to implement an IPTV solution for Russia's Southern Telecom Company (UTK), the principal fixed-line telecommunications provider for Russia's Southern Federal District.

This is the first major deployment of its kind in Russia utilizing part of Kasenna's PortalTV solution -- Mediabase Video on Demand (VOD) server platform, 40 Network PVR (NVPR) channels with pause live TV, and vFusion, its content delivery and management tool. The combined solution will provide an integrated network and IPTV infrastructure for UTK.

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by JSC Mostelecom, the largest Russian cable television operator with more than three million subscribers and 90 percent of the market, to deploy a new IP-based network that will enable the operator to introduce triple play and business services across the city of Moscow and extend its subscriber reach. The project will be implemented in several stages with the first phase scheduled for launch in the first quarter 2007.

UTStarcom, Inc. announced a three-year contract through its partnership with AKSH Optifibre Ltd. to deploy its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) in India. The contract represents the first commercial IPTV deployment in India and AKSH Optifibre Ltd. is the first company to launch IPTV in India. AKSH is the pioneer in optifibre fiber and cable technologies and their main product is a Fiber-to-the-Home solution.

PCCW is deploying Harmonic's new DiviCom Electra 5400 standard definition (SD) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoders for its entire now TV channel lineup. The expansion enables PCCW, the world's largest IPTV operator with more than 700,000 subscribers, to add services and extend its reach in Hong Kong.

Time Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd., an IPTV service provider in India, and Amino Communications Ltd have announced a commercial deal to manufacture AmiNET125 H.264 AVC (MPEG-4, Part 10) compliant Set-Top Boxes (STBs), for the Indian market, through Time Broadband's overseas associate company, Dimensions Broadband UK. The substantial contract, with initial Fixed License fee & on-going Royalty arrangement with Amino, marks their expansion within emerging markets of the Indian sub-continent.

UTStarcom, Inc. announced a contract with China Telecom (CTC) to deploy its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution for a new commercial IPTV network in China's Shanxi Province.

The initial deployment, supporting 30,000 subscribers, is planned to include 14 service points covering major metropolitan areas of Xian, the capital city of Shanxi Province. The service is expected to offer up to 80 channels of live, broadcast television; 24-hour time-shifting capability; approximately 10,000 hours of video-on-demand (VOD) content; and valued-added services including karaoke and gaming.

NDS announced that KT and the C-Cube consortium, having selected NDS' content protection solutions, have successfully completed one of the first IPTV trials in South Korea. The IPTV trial was concluded on December 31, 2006, and final technical evaluation will be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Korean Broadcasting Commission for consideration.

The Ministry of Information and Communication and the Korean Broadcasting Commission are conducting rigorous technical verification and stability testing of the C-Cube consortium's IPTV service. The information will be utilized for the review of legislation that will authorize the launch of commercial IPTV services for the first time in Korea.

Singapore's broadcast regulator, Media Development Authority (MDA), has created two types of licenses for IPTV: niche and nationwide. The MDA's new regulations were created with a desire to boost the growth of the IPTV market.

Additionally, Singapore Telecommunications' SingNet, a wholly owned subsidiary, has received a nationwide license to broadcast IPTV by the MDA.

For additional details on the new licenses, click here.