Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg today called for a national growth agenda that encourages investment and innovation in modern communications.

Seidenberg called for an end to unnecessary barriers to capital investment, starting with video franchise reform. He also called for a tax policy that promotes rather than discourages investment.

"We already have the network to provide voice and data," said Seidenberg. "Now we have to go through an additional process in each individual town just to provide video over the same pipe. It makes no sense."

GPON market leader Optical Solutions Inc. announced that Santa Rosa Telephone Cooperative of Vernon, Texas, has initiated services with the FiberPath 500 GPON system in the first of several competitive fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments planned over the next five years.

EAT.TV, a leading provider of interactive video-on-demand environments, announced the general availability of ImageGuide, a breakthrough application for on-demand entertainment navigation, viewing, and advertising.

One application of EAT.TV's ImageGuide can be seen at www.living.com -- a new broadband video network featuring lifestyle programming from Home & Garden Television (HGTV), Food Network, DIY Network, and FINE LIVING. EAT.TV developed Living.com in partnership with Scripps Networks.

Expo TV breaks new ground for consumers by offering Videopinions, a destination where consumers can submit and watch "real life" product reviews, it was announced by Daphne Kwon, president and CEO, Expo Communications. Videopinions harnesses the power of user- generated videos to create a powerful new tool for consumers.

Videopinions provides the first national destination where real people can submit and watch unbiased consumer product testimonials. Combining the power of personal storytelling with compelling "real life" product demonstration, Videopinions reviewers are able to show other consumers how products stand up to the test of everyday living. Expo TV will air these Videopinions through its nationally distributed video-on-demand cable network, online at expotv.com and on its 24/7 cable network launching later this year.

Akimbo Systems, creator of the first Internet video-on-demand service for television, announced that its subscribers will now have the option to purchase selected videos using a new download-to-own feature on the Akimbo Service. Download-to-own means consumers can purchase videos once and create a permanent, customized digital video archive for the TV. Consumers who prefer to rent titles at lower prices can still do so.

Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) today released the complete agenda and speaker roster for the new "IPTV Summit", debuting next month at their INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO in Los Angeles.

The conference will be held October 24-27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles, CA. "IPTV Summit" takes place Tuesday, October 25th.

Increasingly, IPTV is being bundled with other services delivered over broadband networks, such as voice and high-speed data. Often, enhanced services like video-on-demand are offered as part of the package.

Approximately 80 participants representing 70 leading telecom carriers and vendors came together in Washington last week for the launch of the IPTV Interoperability Forum (IIF).

ATIS' Board of Directors created the IIF this summer after an exploratory group identified key technology areas requiring standards as wide-scale industry deployment of IPTV becomes a reality.

IPTV in China will experience only moderate adoption before it takes off in 2008, reports In-Stat. With the emergence of salient applications and a maturing technology, the market is expected to get a boost from the 2008 Olympics hosted by Beijing, the high-tech market research firm said. This is expected to result in 4.5 million subscribers and US$231.3 million in set top box (STB) revenue in 2008.

X2 Corporation announces the IPTV MEGA PC Media Center powered by DAVE.TV and the DAVE Media Center (DMC) software. X2 recently announced a strategic partnership with DAVE.TV, a global IPTV digital entertainment distribution network, in which the companies are working together and collaborating in building cutting-edge IPTV and ITV platforms. The IPTV MEGA PC is just the first of several next generation IPTV devices to come. The unit directly integrates IPTV technology allowing for more personalized entertainment for the user and access to thousands of hours of video, music and other digital content.

Northern Sky Research (NSR) released its newest market survey and forecast report: "IPTV via Satellite: Assessing the Market Opportunity for Satellite Delivered IPTV Services." The report analyzes the role of satellite technology in the potentially lucrative IPTV market as equipment manufacturers, software developers and service providers have begun to address global demand for IPTV to the world's households. The report outlines the value proposition for satellite technology in the IPTV market and provides estimates for satellite capacity utilization, revenue and the installed base of user sites that satellites can target in all regions over a six-year period.

Tut Systems Inc. announced that it successfully migrated more than 60 schools in Western New York to an all IP distance learning video network over broadband. Tut Systems supplied BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services) with its family of Astria Content Processor (CP) products and on-site video integration expertise for delivery of high-quality, interactive digital video conferencing over a Gigabit Ethernet backbone.

DAVE Networks announces the public beta release of its revolutionary DAVE.TV Internet broadcasting service, now available for download at www.dave.tv. DAVE.TV (Distributed Audio Video Entertainment Television or DAVE TV) consolidates channels of video entertainment from sources around the world into a service that delivers them to their PC, TV, mobile and/or portable device. DAVE.TV brings consumers to the next generation of media enjoyment through the delivery of worldwide, on-demand entertainment media.

Modulus Video detailed its use of Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. The Modulus ME6000's exclusive combination of Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs, high performance server platform, and a scalable, industrial-strength software architecture is uniquely suited to demanding video tasks. The solution was recently featured by Modulus at the International Broadcaster Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam, September 8-13, 2005.

Discovery Networks has joined Akimbo Systems' growing list of mainstream and niche content providers for Akimbo's Internet-delivered video-on-demand service for television. Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Military Channel and Discovery Kids Channel will now be available on-demand alongside video blogs and hard-to-find programming on everything from Chinese programming to home repair.

Akimbo offers more than 4,000 programs and on average adds 250 programs a week. Couch commandos can download programs such as Discovery Channel’s "MythBusters," Animal Planet's "Corwin’s Quest," or kids' favorites "HI-5" or "Darcy's Wild Life" from Discovery Kids Channel – all through a single service.

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