Alcatel and Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to enable integrated customer management and the intentional customer experience, announced they have signed a letter of intent designed to address the requirements of communications service providers (CSPs) looking to deploy Internet Protocol or IP-based television (IPTV) and other next generation broadband IP services. Through this arrangement, the two companies will work to deliver a joint end-to-end solution that will allow CSPs to offer "triple play" bundles of voice, data and video services, making deployments faster and easier, and reducing operational costs.

The two companies are moving forward to integrate the Amdocs IP Convergence Solution for IPTV with Alcatel's broad suite of IPTV offerings to ensure seamless connectivity and interoperability between platforms, leveraging each other's functionality across the solutions. The two companies will also create a joint architectural map and service offerings, and plan to engage in joint sales and marketing efforts aligned around customer needs.

"Today, in order to quickly deploy revolutionary new service offerings such as triple play and IPTV, service providers need not only the infrastructure, but also a way to address the unique operational and billing characteristics inherent in these services," said Hubert de Pesquidoux, president of Alcatel's North American activities. "Our alliance with Amdocs further differentiates Alcatel as the leading provider of IPTV offerings -- it gives us the ability to deliver the industry's most tightly integrated solution and will allow our customers to accelerate their time to market even as they reduce operational costs associated with these innovative new offerings."

"Amdocs is looking forward to joining forces with Alcatel to help CSPs unlock new sources of revenue by becoming providers of IP-driven entertainment and communications services to their customers," said Eli Gelman, executive vice president of Amdocs Management Limited. "Amdocs' leadership in business support systems (BSS) solutions and success in enabling integrated customer management -- a winning business strategy for service providers -- together with Alcatel's IPTV offerings that are based on its expertise in the network and integration, is a winning combination for CSPs."

Alcatel and Amdocs have already begun development of an Interoperability lab that will simulate real-world production environments and foster the creation of a joint end-to-end offering. The environment will house diverse components of the combined solution that will span from the customer premise to the BSS layer. This includes the infrastructure, full broadband access network, switching, routing, transport and applications.