Jonathan Takiff writes "Now you can see much more TV" in The News Sentinel. The article provides an explanation of the developments that have occurred this year relating to telcos, cable TV companies, and the IPTV industry.

Takiff starts with SBC's announcement to introduce an IPTV offering over fiber-optic lines. Some of the features that SBC is looking to offer were also discussed. "Rolling out at year's end in a few markets, SBC's IPTV service will include on-screen caller ID when the phone rings, simultaneous multichannel (or TV plus Internet site) viewing on a single screen and personal video recorder functionality on every television in the house." Verizon's FiOS service is also covered.

Issues relating to regulation are briefly discussed in the article. The phone companies are currently lobbying for a "light-touch" regulatory approach so that they can quickly compete with the cable companies in TV offerings.

Cable companies aren't resting idle while all of this is going on. Time Warner has already announced a next-generation "Internet protocol" network architecture for high-speed delivery of video and other multimedia content. Takiff discusses this, the “big brother” opportunity this will create, and promises that are still left unfilled by cable companies.

If you are new to the developments of IPTV, the full article is well worth the read.