Alcatel and Shanghai Media Group (SMG), one of the most prestigious media groups in China, today announced the two companies have jointly set up an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) lab in Shanghai to drive the commercialization of IPTV services in China. The initiative is the first of its kind in China, combining the strengths and expertise of a content provider and a telecom equipment supplier. The lab has become an integral part of Alcatel's Asia Pacific IPTV Solution Center managed by Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's flagship company in China.

In the Lab, Alcatel integrates SMG's broadcast content and head-end equipment with Alcatel's end-to-end IPTV service delivery architecture, as well as terminals to simulate a complete network environment for developing, validating and test-running IPTV services.

A joint team, comprised of IPTV experts from both companies, will work together to develop solutions that are critical to the delivery of IPTV services to end users, such as digital rights management (DRM) solutions, a broadcast control management platform, content integration and service management platforms tailored to the needs of Chinese service providers. In addition, the joint team will carry out in-depth studies on various business cases for IPTV so that comprehensive consulting services can be provided to help operators launch profitable IPTV services.

"Operators all over the world are either offering video services - or actively investigating their deployment - in addition to their voice and data services. China sees exponential growth in the number of broadband users, creating profitable opportunities for operators to go into the IPTV business," said Michel Rahier, in charge of Alcatel's global fixed communications activities. "As the world leader in broadband access, Alcatel is committed to working closely with different players in the IPTV ecosystem to create a favourable environment for operators to deliver user-centric broadband services."

"We are honored to partner with companies like Alcatel to facilitate the IPTV development in China," said Li Ruigang, President of SMG, "IPTV deployments will drive the broadband industry of the future. With the recent award of China's first IPTV license to SMG by the Chinese government, we have complete confidence in bringing innovative content services to end users through our partnerships"

Alcatel and SMG signed a strategic partnership agreement in June 2004 pledging extensive cooperation in broadband access and mobile video. According to the agreement, Alcatel will integrate SMG's TV and video content into Alcatel's 3G networking and broadband access solutions, using Alcatel's fully integrated end-to-end video solution. The establishment of the IPTV lab represents a major and concrete step in the further cooperation between the two companies.

Alcatel has the widest IPTV expertise and field experience in the world. To date, more than 25 IPTV projects have been undertaken by Alcatel worldwide and, of the over 2 million IPTV subscribers around the world, approximately 70% use Alcatel-provided networks. This April, Alcatel launched an IPTV Solution Center for the Asia Pacific region in Shanghai. Managed by Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's flagship company in China, the Center designs tailored IPTV solutions that fit the individual requirements of operators and provides comprehensive technical support as well as consulting services to assist operators in every stage of new service development. The new Alcatel/SMG IPTV Lab is an important part of Alcatel's overall triple play strategy and will accelerate the deployment of triple play services in the Chinese market.