Reliance Communications and Microsoft announce a strategic partnership to deliver a highly connected, personalized TV experience to consumers in India through Reliance's IPTV service, which will be powered by the award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV software platform. Reliance Communications shall have the exclusive deployment right for the platform in India.

Reliance's IPTV service, powered by the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, will allow Reliance to deliver entirely new, connected and personalized TV experiences for Indian consumers, with several advanced features, such as video on demand, digital video recording, instant channel changing, and personal media sharing. IPTV subscribers will be able to watch popular standard definition content as well as high-definition content -- for the first time in India -- at the click of a button from the comfort of their homes, and enjoy a connected entertainment experience that will soon allow them to watch their favorite shows on their TV or PC. The service will be launched by fiscal end (March 2008).

The IPTV service will also target an area with a great degree of ambiguity, as far as TV content and advertising goes in India. There is, at present, no clear indication of how much of the content and advertising is really reaching the target audience and what the returns for the investments are. A two-way interactive medium can rectify this.