Broadbandtv Corp., a North American leader in the aggregation, distribution and marketing of video content via Video On Demand (VOD) over Internet Protocol (IP) channels, and CineClix Distribution Inc., a global digital film distribution company focused on Independent and Festival films, have entered into a Strategic Alliance that will feature CineClix's video content throughout the Broadbandtv network.

It was a busy week sifting through the IPTV and Internet TV headlines. This may be our biggest one week list to-date of headlines relating to IPTV or Internet TV.

In headlines not mentioned here since we covered them through the week:

• UK's ITV launched an Internet TV station featuring local communities. We'll be working on adding that to our Internet TV directory.
• IPTV companies are gearing up for the Telecom '05 conference taking place next week in Las Vegas. Click over to our IPTV Events section for more information.

In not-so-related to IPTV news, be sure to catch up on the latest developments in the Blu-ray vs HD-DVD battle.

Here are the headlines...

Is Verizon FiOS TV exactly what the consumer asked for? Verizon has been saying all along that consumers want choice but, who doesn't?

The cable companies clearly don't. They've been throwing money into lobbyists and roadblocks for months trying to slow the progression of the Bell's IPTV rollout initiatives.

The cable companies have a monopoly and with that advantage, they have ran prices up and kept innovation at the pace of a snail. Who needs to innovate with little to no competition?

The cable companies contend that providing a statewide franchise to the telephone companies would provide an unfair advantage unless cable received the same privilege because telephone companies could target niche markets and, "...if telephone companies were allowed to serve only the most lucrative areas of communities that cable operators were required to serve in their entirety, competition would not be enhanced but would suffer." How can competition suffer when there is none to begin with? But regardless, who would be against leveling out the playing field?

A major new development in television technology was unveiled by the UK's largest commercial broadcaster, ITV.

Using the Television Operating System (TelVOS) developed by Narrowstep Inc, the new service, called ITV Local, is currently on the air as a trial with two initial local community channels for Brighton and Hastings.

Verizon announced it is building a fiber-optic network that will deliver faster data speeds, crystal-clear voice -- and also has the capability to offer a full suite of video services in the future – to residence and business customers in: Audubon, Audubon Park, Barrington, Haddon Heights, Haddonfield, Lawnside and Tavistock in Camden County; and Bergenfield, Dumont, Garfield, Ho-Ho-Kus, Lodi, Ridgewood, Wallington, Washington Township and Woodcliff Lake in Bergen County.

Twenty-six communities, business organizations and a county freeholder board are calling on Gov. Richard Codey and state legislators to end the cable industry’s stranglehold on the video marketplace.

The resolutions were issued over the past month, with Howell Township this week becoming the most recent community to support updating New Jersey’s 30-year-old laws to permit state-issued franchises. Under current law, a competitor to the monopoly cable-TV provider must obtain franchises community-by-community, a time-consuming process that inhibits competition.

"Legislators, local officials and New Jersey residents are saying loud and clear: They want competition and choice in the video market, and they want it now," said Dennis Bone, president of Verizon New Jersey. "New Jerseyans are tired of cable’s price hikes, which have become as seasonal as football and trick-or-treat. Cable rates have increased an average of 38 percent over the past five years."

Analysys International announced they predict that Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) will become the next global industry, with a potential market of 200 billion people, while the China IPTV market will mature into a huge market, reaching 16.7 billion RMB in revenue and 16.65 million in the predicted number of users by 2009. Its newly released Focus Report on IPTV China-2005 helps dispel misconceptions that this industry that is full of obstacles and provides high-valued results for business models based on a thorough understanding of the industry.

Trimax Corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiary PLC Network Solutions Inc. ("PLC"), announced that it has signed an agreement with Mentor Properties of Toronto, Canada, to install its Broadband over Powerline (BPL) devices, and bundled services (ISP, VoIP) in three buildings within its portfolio of properties totaling approximately 213 units. Mentor is installing PLC's new 205 Mbps Broadband over Powerline devices that will provide its tenants with symmetrical upload and download speeds of 20-30 Mbps -- considerably more than cable or DSL, and enough to run concurrent high-bandwidth applications such as VoIP, video-on-demand and IPTV on the same platform. Additionally, Mentor has also contracted PLC to be the ISP and VoIP provider to these units, demonstrating that PLC can be a solid competitor to existing providers, and profiting from the recurring revenue base. PLC Network Solutions has been pleased at the level of growing interest from building landlords within North America and various parts of the world that are contemplating moving to Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) to access their Internet and VoIP needs.

Redback Networks Inc. announced that Kevin DeNuccio, president and CEO, will keynote at the Telecom '05 Annual Conference & Exhibition at the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 8:00 a.m. PST.

Calix announced that Frank Wiener, vice president of field marketing, and Geoff Burke, IPTV marketing director, will speak at three separate sessions at Telecom 05 in Las Vegas. Calix is a leading supplier of multiservice access solutions that simplify information, communication, and entertainment service delivery to business and residential subscribers over fiber and copper networks.

Kontiki announced the fifth generation of its flagship software, giving consumer media companies and enterprises the industry's most advanced, fully-functioned and secure solution for delivering DVD-quality video across the Internet or enterprise. Demand for Kontiki's field-proven delivery system is increasing rapidly, as consumer media companies seek new ways to monetize their content and enterprises embrace new media-rich methods of effectively communicating with employees and customers.

Called Kontiki 5.0, the new, enhanced platform enables content providers and enterprises to securely publish, protect, deliver and track rich media content at a fraction of the cost of traditional distribution systems, while giving users on-demand access to rich media content. Kontiki is already deploying its platform at some of the world's largest media companies including America Online, Inc. and the BBC, in addition to a number of large enterprises including Avanade.

Tut Systems Inc. will showcase ground-breaking digital turnaround and forward error correction (FEC) solutions at booth 301 October 24-26 at Telecom '05.

Tut Systems' carrier class Astria content processor (CP) platform extends its industry leadership with the addition of the world's most powerful MPEG-2 digital turnaround solution. With its Multi-stream Processor (MSP) card and new software capabilities, the Astria can digitally process and further compress MPEG-2 satellite channels for delivery over bandwidth constrained access networks. With more than 30 channels processed on a single board, the new solution can deliver up to 100 channels of processing in a single 2RU chassis.

Stream announced an agreement to provide technical support for the Slingbox, a popular new consumer electronics product from Sling Media, Inc. The Slingbox allows the user to watch a live television feed from their home-based cable box, satellite receiver, or digital video recorder on an Internet-connected PC anywhere in the world.

Alexander Cameron, Managing Director of Digital TX Ltd, brings us a fresh perspective on how ISPs need to approach IPTV and related technologies to be successful in the unique and crowded UK market. Cameron offers up his experience working with industry leaders in this free white paper.

"Most companies researching video-centric technology have spent so much time in perpetual loops second-guessing themselves that they have not been able to look past the basic models of deployment to help understand the possibilities the technology empowers. In layman’s terms, they’re so worried about viability that they haven't used their imagination to think of compelling applications and their constituent parts."

The battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD might have reached its tipping point according to Forrester Research. Reuters is reporting that Forrester Research announced that Blu-ray, the new DVD format proposed and backed by a group of companies called the Blu-ray Disc Association led by Sony and Philips, is the winner in a heated battle over next-generation DVD technology.

Meanwhile, DVD Recorder World informs us that Bill Gates' predicts that the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD doesn't count for much.