MTS Allstream launches MTS HDTV to residents in Winnipeg. MTS HDTV is the next generation of high definition television, personal video recorder, improved guide features and other TV advancements. MTS Allstream is the first company in Canada to launch a digital television service that includes combined technology from Alcatel-Lucent and the award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV software platform.

Sigma Systems announces enhancements to its Residential Video Solution for IPTV for telecom service providers, including enabling delivery of VOD, advanced advertising, and DVR/PVR. Sigma's Residential Video Solution for IPTV is a finalist in the Best IPTV Service Delivery Platform category of the IPTV World Series Awards at IPTV World Forum.

EchoStar announces the company's IP-Prime Conversion Program, designed to provide continued delivery of video transport services for telco IP headend facilities across the United States. Commercial transport provider IP-Prime has previously announced it will discontinue its video transport service to headend facilities by July 31, 2009. EchoStar's IP-Prime Conversion Program provides qualified customers with EchoStar's ViP-TV transport service, replacement IDC satellite receivers and a standard professional installation, including compatible LNBs, a satellite dish re-point, cabling and connectors.

VEVI is preparing to launch its first IPTV venture, DiasporaTV. The new company will offer IPTV service to customers in North America and Western Europe. DiasporaTV expects to start accepting customers in Q2 of 2009. The service will initially offer Albanian channels to U.S. and Canadian subscribers. Unlike traditional television, IPTV is delivered via the Internet.

Codetel has selected CopperGate Communications’ HomePNA 3.1 technology for its Claro TV IPTV service. Codetel offers local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, together with advanced data and video services.

Codetel wanted to expand its established services to include video and the media-rich applications of IPTV. It needed a technology that was high quality, extremely stable, efficient, and provided fast and easy installation.

MTS Allstream selected 2Wire's HomePortal intelligent gateways to enable a major expansion of its IPTV services in Manitoba, Canada. This expansion is part of MTS's long-term broadband evolution strategy to bring television, Internet, phone, and home security and automation together on one simple platform.

MTS's expansion effort has already started with a rollout in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Additional rollouts in the cities of Winnipeg and Brandon are planned for 2009.

Alcatel-Lucent announces that Codetel launched a nationwide IPTV offering, providing subscribers across the country with high-quality TV programming, video on demand and other multimedia content services. Enhanced features include picture in picture, karaoke entertainment and digital video recording.

The new IPTV service – supported by Alcatel-Lucent’s end-to-end IPTV solution, including the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia software platform - offers Codetel’s customers an enhanced video experience. It positions Codetel as the first operator to provide advanced new features in the Dominican market, such as video on demand and pause-live TV. The service complements Codetel’s existing voice and broadband Internet access service, enabling the operator to offer one of the first complete “triple play” packages in the Caribbean.

AT&T is reportedly working on a U-Verse IPTV box with Femtocell capabilities, claims an employee. This unit will cover TV, telephone, internet and improve your cellular reception. Being the owner of a iPhone with fairly weak AT&T reception in portions of my apartment complex, I'm excited to hear any news on Femtocell's to help improve my cell phone coverage.

The all-in-one box is supposed to come in 2010, while U-Verse continues to expand throughout the U.S. However, in addition to this news comes the 3G Microcell, AT&T's stand alone Femtocell pictured (right), is confirmed to be out in Q2 of 2009.

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative will hold rates for its Expanded Basic programming package for IPTV at 2008 levels. In addition to its Expanded Basic offering, NRTC provides programming packages for residential and consumer accounts, including schools, hotels, restaurants, small business offices and multiple-dwelling units. NRTC provides full contract management services and support to its members. As new services become available, members can sign up easily using NRTC's password protected online contract management system, which provides real-time access to contracts and allows members to monitor the progress of contracts approvals. The contract management system is contained in NRTC's proprietary business center that houses easy access to a wide range of programmer promotion, business reports and information.

Best of Malayalam TV launches a new broadcast service throughout the United States and Canada. This is the first and only broadband TV service from Malayalam available to audiences in North America. BoMTV offers seven channels of top-rated Malayalam entertainment and brings viewers the latest Malayalam movies, events and variety programming on a pay-per-view basis.

BoMTV offers a full range of high quality South Indian entertainment made possible through NeuLion, an IPTV service provider and NeuLion's proprietary set top box solution. Viewers will be able to watch live Malayalam content directly on the television.

SES NEW SKIES will host IPTV Americas on its NSS-806 satellite. This will enable IPTV Americas to offer an end-to-end satellite-delivered IPTV distribution solution to all telecommunications and cable operators’ head ends in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IPTV Americas’ content will be distributed to the entire Americas via NSS-806, one of the most widely used video satellites in the region. The services will uplink from the SES NEW SKIES’ Washington Mediaport located in the Washington D.C. area.

SES AMERICOM will cease providing its IPTV service in North America – IP-PRIME – by July 31, 2009. The termination of the service is motivated by the slow adoption of IPTV by small and medium size telecom operators as well as by the difficult market outlook for this kind of service.

“In line with its plan, IP-PRIME has contracted IPTV signal delivery agreements with 70 small telecom operators, of which 37 have so far reached commercial stage. However, with a subscriber base of less than ten thousand at the end of November and after more than 2 years of service, the consumer uptake is insufficient to justify continuing operations,” said Rob Bednarek, President and CEO of SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES.

My Broadband TV is offering a compelling new mix of channels targeting its rapidly growing Asian-American audience. The media company uses IPTV to deliver content to multi-linguistic households in North America. It is a personalized premium multicultural television service for US and Canadian families.

The “plug and play” device is easy to install using standard video connectors and pre-packaged software sending television content through a DSL router, cable modem or wireless local area network. Customers can do other work on their computers as they watch or listen.

Sky Angel is excited to announce two additional channels now available through their IPTV platform: INSP - The Inspiration Network (Channel 131) and i-Lifetv - Inspirational Life Television (Channel 106).

INSP targets the millions of Americans who embrace inspirational values and has an in-depth array of inspirational programming. The network features original and exclusive music and talk programs as well as content for kids, teens, women, and men. In addition, INSP offers a wide variety of content from some of the world's leading ministries including Cornerstone with Dr. John Hagee, In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley and The Potter's Touch with Bishop T.D. Jakes.

SES AMERICOM announced that more than sixty-five telcos in 31 states have signed up for IP-PRIME. The market has adopted IP-PRIME either as a complete IPTV programming solution offering more than 200 standard definition and more than 50 high definition channels transported to the head end, or as an exclusive HD solution installed as an overlay to existing IPTV operations. Of the current telco customers, more than two dozen are commercially delivering IP-PRIME to subscribers today, with another dozen expected to “turn on” by year’s end.