ATEME announces a major video encoder sale to leading French telco Free.

Free is one of the world leaders in IPTV deployments and is capable of leveraging ATEME compression technology throughout its infrastructure. Using the new Kyrion MPEG-4 AVC SD video encoder from ATEME, 18 standard definition television channels will go live at the unprecedented bit rate of 1.7 Mbps.

With such a significant bandwidth saving, Free will be able to sign up new subscribers who are currently unable to receive IPTV due to their distance from the DSLAM.

BT unveils the first national advertising campaign designed to position BT Vision as Britain’s most flexible digital TV service

The multi-million pound campaign – BT’s biggest of the year so far – is led by national TV advertising, kickstarted by two new 60 second slots starring Kris Marshall and Esther Hall. The new ads develop the story of Adam and his partner Jane as they each rush home from work, anticipating their ideal night of TV via BT Vision – be it through Freeview, BT Vision’s broad choice of on demand content, or a programme stored on the PVR. The ads will make their debut during ITV’s ‘Grease Is The Word’ on Saturday May 12.

The TV slots are supported by a nationwide BT Vision poster campaign across billboards and bus sides, including a specially created execution for the Clapham Colossus at Clapham Junction – at 200ft, the largest backlit poster site in Europe.

CopperGate Communications announces that Sonaecom has selected CopperGate’s CopperStream technology for Sonaecom’s fast growing Clix SmarTV IPTV service.

CopperGate’s CopperStream chipsets, available from leading manufacturers embedded in set-top boxes, residential gateways and other equipment, provide a complete HomePNA 3 home networking solution. Products integrating CopperStream are being deployed today by major telephone service providers worldwide for IPTV applications as well as for Multi-tenant Unit in-building access applications.

The BBC Trust has issued its final approval of the BBC Executive's proposals for new on-demand services, with some modifications. The on-demand proposals are the first to go through a Public Value Test.

The Trust's provisional conclusions were subject to an open consultation. A remarkable 10,500 individuals and organisations responded. In the light of those responses, and after careful consideration of all relevant issues, the Trust has amended two of the conditions of its provisional approval.

Nokia Siemens Networks has signed a contract with Dialog telecom to deliver and integrate an interactive TV and video-on-demand platform. The test installation will be rolled out this June and the commercial roll out is expected for end of this year.

Dialog telecom has chosen Nokia Siemens Networks to deliver and integrate an IPTV-platform into Dialog’s network for interactive television and video-on-demand services. Nokia Siemens Networks will also supply the set-top boxes for the consumer homes to allow the new multimedia services to be used.

The IPTV solution extends Dialog’s existing portfolio. Subscribers will thus be able to create their own individual service package combining dedicated fixed-line telephony, internet access and innovative fixed-line digital television (IPTV).

BitBand announces that FASTWEB is installing BitBand's new Vision 880 Video On Demand servers throughout FASTWEB's points of presence in Italy, providing higher streaming throughput and increased storage capacities, thus enabling FASTWEB to easily expand the delivery of IPTV services.

FASTWEB is Italy’s leading provider of commercial converged triple-play services over broadband and one of the most successful triple-play service providers in the world today. BitBand’s video solutions enable FASTWEB to deliver high quality IPTV VOD, NPVR (Network Personal Video Recording) and Catch-Up TV services to subscribers throughout Italy.

Private announces a multi-year agreement with the Belgacom Group, Belgium's leading telecom, for the supply of content for distribution via their Video-On-Demand (VOD) service on the Belgacom TV platform.

The agreement includes access to hundreds of titles from Private's proprietary movie library and includes both new releases as well as classic blockbuster titles. With this agreement Private takes another step forward in its aggressive strategy to be featured on all major IPTV & Cable VOD platforms in Western Europe by the end of 2007.

AT&T is in negotiations for a potential indirect investment in Telecom Italia. The proposal is for AT&T to purchase a one-third stake in Olimpia, a holding company with approximately 18 percent of Telecom Italia’s ordinary shares.

AT&T is in negotiations on the potential investment to acquire the interest from Pirelli & C, which owns 80 percent of Olimpia. Olimpia holds only Telecom Italia assets.

The valuation of the stakes in Olimpia which are the object of the possible sale would be based on a price per Telecom Italia share equal to €2.82, minus the net debt of Olimpia on the closing date of the transaction, subject to the satisfaction of the terms of the proposal.

Ruckus Wireless announces that it has been selected by Sonaecom to supply its award-winning MediaFlex multimedia wireless systems for Sonaecom's fast growing Clix SmarTV IPTV service.

Launched in April of 2006, Clix SmarTV was the first IPTV service offered in Portugal. It remains the only IPTV service available to Portugal's 3.6 million households.

With the Ruckus MediaFlex, Portuguese consumers will now be able to extend the location freedom that they enjoy with Wi-Fi technology to their television viewing experience. The Ruckus MediaFlex allows Clix and its customers to place televisions virtually anywhere within their home without running cumbersome and costly cabling to each TV.

ON Telecoms is using Orca's RiGHTv middleware in a pioneering Greek IPTV deployment. In four months from engagement to launch, ON Telecoms began offering an attractive triple play package for customers in January 2007, including live TV (hybrid of DVB-T and IP channels), on-demand services such as video on demand and super fast broadband up to 10 Mbps. The service uses MPEG-4 technology and can provide channels in Standard Definition or High Definition quality.

Anevia has been selected by the Swiss Cable Operator Sierre Energie. Sierre Energie just released its FTTH service under the brandname "Vario" providing their customers with 90 worldwide TV channels (French, German, Italian, English & others) through their IP set-top box.

The Anevia Flamingo is the only 1RU appliance in the market able to receive multiple TV channels and retransmit them over IP. Satellite, Terrestrial or Cable channels, encrypted or free-to-air can be streamed. This DVB-to-IP gateway has already been selected by other leading telecom operators for their IPTV service.

Sierre Energie is scheduling the launch of HDTV services for Summer 2007 and is currently testing the Anevia Flamingo for DVB-S2 satellite reception and IP streaming of HD channels.

With the accelerated expansion of the broadband infrastructure, Deutsche Telekom intends to dramatically increase the marketing basis for its T-Com's Triple Play products and the opportunity to use IPTV. (See DT Outlines Strategy, Eyes 1.5 Mln IPTV Subscribers by 2010) DT aims to cover more than 17 million households by the end of 2007. Deutsche Telekom is consequently tripling the marketing potential for Triple Play products and accelerating growth in the area of high-speed Internet access. As the next step in the expansion of VDSL technology, Deutsche Telekom will provide its customers in the following cities with the new high-speed technology: Bochum, Bonn, Bremen, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Dresden, Duisburg, Essen, Karlsruhe, Ludwigshafen, Mainz, Mannheim, Wiesbaden and Wuppertal.

Optibase has added its name to a list of other vendors, including Bitbad and Verimatrix in supplying technology to Greece's new IPTV provider, On Telecoms. On Telecoms will be using Optibase’s IPTV headend equipment to deliver local and satellite television channels to its subscribers. Optibase provided its streaming platforms, MGW 5100, which are controlled and monitored using Optibase Cluster Manager.

ON Telecoms is currently rolling out its triple play services, which includes the first IPTV service in Greece. In addition to using Bitband for on-demand video delivery, ON Telecoms has selected Verimatrix to secure their IPTV service. ON Telecoms will utilize the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) to provide digital video content security throughout its digital video network.

Deutsche Telekom intends to grow in the mobile communications and fixed network mass market in the coming years, particularly on the back of broadband offers. With voice rates designed to increase usage, Internet based services such as messaging, innovative terminal equipment and access to attractive content, Deutsche Telekom plans to convince its customers and establish itself as a service provider enabling personal and social networking. "We want to give our customers rapid and easy access to communication, information and entertainment at home, on the move, and at work," said Chairman of the Board of Management René Obermann presenting his strategy on Thursday. "Focus, fix and grow that will be our way."

Deutsche Telekom intends to expand further internationally, possibly into new markets and regions, on the back of mobile communications. Funds to do so are to be generated by the sale of non-strategic business units, for example. The ICT business with key account customers is to be developed further. The Company is seeking to do this on the basis of a strategic partnership. This could also provide resources for successful development.

In the domestic consumer market, Deutsche Telekom plans to use a new media platform to attract around 1.5 million customers to Internet-based television by the end of 2010. By 2008, 50 cities will be upgraded with VDSL and connected to the platform, and an additional 750 or so towns and cities will be covered using ADSL2+. Internationally, Deutsche Telekom expects to continue increasing its customer numbers considerably in almost all markets in which it is present. The focus is on the United States, where more than 5 million new customers are to be added by 2008. The number of customers in Europe is also expected to increase significantly.