FierceIPTV released today its first "Fierce 15" list of the top IPTV companies making significant inroads in the burgeoning IPTV industry. The winners are smart thought leaders with proven solutions that will bring IPTV from concept to reality as rollouts continue.

"We at FierceIPTV have evaluated numerous companies based on their innovation, potential for near-term revenue and competitive position. The companies featured in this issue are the picks of the litter--the 15 companies we believe hold the most promise to shape the IPTV industry in the year ahead," said Brian Dolan, editor of FierceIPTV.

Brian went on to say, "This year's winners include companies that solve the problems facing the IPTV industry: a lack of truly complete "end-to-end" IPTV solutions, disappointing in-home distribution platforms and the content providers' worry that IP videos will end up pirated and on the Internet. Among the winners you'll find companies that enable targeted advertising, next-generation content navigation platforms, accelerated metadata tools and a wireless in-home distribution platform that makes installation easy."

The 2006 FierceIPTV 15 winners are:

1. Actiontec Electronics
2. Brightcove
3. CopperGate Communications
4. Cloverleaf Communications
5. Encirq
6. Entone Technologies
7. Envivio, Inc.
8. Falcon Communications
9. Hillcrest Labs
10. Maven Networks
11. Minerva Networks
12. Packet Vision
13. QoSmetrics
14. Ruckus Wireless
15. Widevine Technologies

FierceIPTV is a weekly email and web service covering news, trends, and insights related to IPTV's advancements and deployments globally. More than 15,000 top telecom and media executives subscribe to the FierceIPTV weekly email newsletter. Sign up is free at http://www.fierceiptv.com/subscribefull.php.