PCCW Limited and STAR announced that they will work together to explore IPTV pay-TV opportunities in overseas markets.

Leveraging PCCW's expertise in building and operating an IPTV business and STAR's strength and experience in content creation and distribution and the pay-TV business, the two companies will look into opportunities to work with platform operators and media companies in Asia for the rollout of IPTV services.

PCCW's now TV is the world leader in IPTV with more than 550,000 users, subscribing to the service since its launch in August 2003 and representing over 25% of homes so far in Hong Kong. now TV carries over 110 TV and audio channels including 17 channels provided by STAR and its joint ventures.

PCCW Executive Director Alex Arena said: "PCCW has a wealth of experience in quickly implementing and operating a successful IPTV pay-TV business. Telecom and broadband companies from around the world visit us regularly, to explore how PCCW can share its experience with them. We are delighted to work together with STAR to develop these opportunities."

STAR is Asia's leading media and entertainment company, distributing 59 channels in nine languages to over 300 million viewers on a variety of platforms in Asia and beyond. It controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world's largest contemporary Chinese film library.

STAR Chief Executive Officer Michelle Guthrie said: "We are excited to expand our working relationship with now TV, a tremendous partner of ours in Hong Kong, to explore opportunities across Asia. It is clear that IPTV will be an exciting distribution platform in the future. Today's announcement underscores our efforts to help unlock its full potential, enabling STAR to deliver content to more people across the region."

The STAR/PCCW cooperation will involve full pay-TV operations and will be in addition to worldwide technical and IT solutions provided by CASCADE Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of PCCW. CASCADE has built and installed end-to-end technical IPTV solutions in countries as far afield as Thailand and Morocco. Ongoing discussions are in progress with a number of other overseas operators.