Interactive Television Networks, Inc. (ITVN) today announced the beta launch of Setanta On Demand, allowing subscribers on demand access to all scheduled European soccer and rugby games for 24 hours following the end of the match.

Orbit E-Commerce Inc.("OECI"), and PureNet.Tv Inc. ("PureNet"), announced today the selection of Foundry Networks Inc. ("Foundry") to supply its NetIron Multicast Routers for their recently announced IPTV project in the Peoples Republic of China ("China").

TechnoConcepts, Inc. announced that its Jinshilin Techno Ltd. subsidiary in China completed its first milestone by shipping set-top boxes to the Shanghai Forests Information Technology Co. Ltd. and the Television and Broadcast Bureau of the Henan Province. The units shipped Friday will be integrated into an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) demonstration network being built by Shanghai Forests in cooperation with Alcatel Network Support System Company Inc. for the Bureau's project to supply in-home television service to the rural residents of the Henan Province.

TeliaSonera has acquired 98.66 percent of the shares in Cygate, a leading supplier of secure and managed IP network solutions as well as system integration in the Nordic market. The acquisition underlines TeliaSonera's strategic direction to strengthen its position in the management of enterprises' total telecom and IT solutions in order to capture growth.

BT announced it has made a recommended cash offer for PlusNet, offering 210p per share, valuing the company at approximately £67m.

The offer for PlusNet fits perfectly with BT's strategy of providing its customers with the most that broadband can deliver. Broadband is increasingly becoming more than just fast internet access and PlusNet has a strong reputation for both customer service and innovation.

An interesting survey result was in the Fortune article mentioned in our previous post:

Whatever happens, one thing is for sure: the phone companies are going to need a zippy name for their video service. A separate Accenture survey of 6,000 consumers worldwide asked respondents if they knew what "IPTV" was. Some 4% said they thought IPTV was a reality television show.

And yet another confirmation of IPTV Acronym Soup.

In an article by Ken Wieland at DigiWorld 2006, Paul Reynolds, CEO of BT Wholesale, stated "I really don't see a business case for widespread FTTH. It is not immediately apparent where the incremental revenue would come from that investment." Instead, BT will continue down the path of launching its ADSL2+ next year.

Is this the right choice for BT? Will the high investment pay off for others? I remember reading an article earlier this year in Fortune forecasting big results in the years to come due to the 'FiOS' network Verizon is laying. However, in a more recent article, the forecast was quite grim for the payout on IPTV services.

TiVo Inc. unveiled a comprehensive broadband strategy designed to bridge the web and television to allow even more viewing choices, taking the concept that "It's not TV unless it's on the TV" to a whole new level. TiVo's new features now allow consumers to select their own content and bring it from the Internet to their TV, where they can enjoy it from the comfort of their living room.

The new service feature will be implemented by the end of this year through an upgrade to the TiVo Desktop software. Current customers will not be charged any other monthly fees for the service or the software upgrade but new users will pay $24.95 for the software.

Amdocs released results of a survey looking at the communications industry trends in the U.S. and U.K. in 2007. Based on the responses of 200 industry decision makers in the telecom, cable and satellite industries, Amdocs forecasts service providers will significantly increase investment in customer service, network infrastructure and IP-based services, as well as build their digital content offerings.

According to the survey, IPTV, digital TV, video content and VoIP (voice over IP) are expected to be the top products and services for 2007, with spending in network infrastructure for these three areas projected to increase significantly -- by 77 percent, 81 percent, 71 percent and 76 percent, respectively.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) has extended its PIQUA software with its first implementation in media gateways for carrier networks. TI's PIQUA system of IP quality management elements enables service providers and carriers to deliver an advanced level of quality to consumer and business subscribers migrating to Internet and IP-based services. With TI's PIQUA elements embedded in equipment at both the customer premise and the network, consumers using IP-based services -- such as Voice over IP (VoIP), Video over IP, IPTV and Internet-based music -- will realize exceptional quality and performance with their IP applications.

Siemens and Infineon have created a unique solution for the fast and reliable transmission of broadband services such as IPTV and HD-TV with LAN-compatible devices in private households. This cutting edge product is based on Polymer Optical Fibers (POF), which are especially easy to lay and install. Similar to glass fibers, data is transmitted via light waves that reach a constant bandwidth of 100 Mbps. The use of optical-electrical LAN adapters results in a Plug&Play solution that can connect to any LAN compatible device found in the home. T-Com, the Fixed Network business unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, now offers this solution to its IPTV customers in a package that includes two optical LAN adapters, LAN wires as well as a polymer optical cable.

Juniper Networks, Inc. has maintained its number two market share position in both Service Provider Routing with 16.8 percent and in High-End Enterprise Routing with 26.7 percent for the quarter ending September 30, 2006, according to a report issued by Synergy Research Group. In the Service Provider Routing category, Juniper also maintained its number two market share position in the Service Provider Core, BRAS and Multiservice Edge Routing categories with 27.7, 30.7 and 15.6 percent, respectively.

mPhase Technologies and Accedo have formed an alliance to offer games with the mPhase TV+ System middleware. The companies will market the game packages to broadband operators as a pre-configured solution for interactive IPTV services.

The new Accedo Games packages will provide operators with a range of revenue-generating and differentiating games for the mPhase TV+ System.

It appears the waters surrounding the AT&T-Bellsouth merger became a bit more murky with the expected new head of U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, speaking out today. Mr Inouye stated he would welcome a delay to regulatory approval of AT&T Inc.'s proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp. so the panel can review it. When asked whether a committee review meant delaying an FCC vote until next year, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii said: "That'd be nice."

The AT&T-Bellsouth merger has yet to win approval from the FCC (See AT&T-Bellsouth Merger Snags on FCC) and could now be influenced to hold tight on a decision based on the comments from the Commerce Committee.

Read more via Reuters.

Verizon has expanded its FiOS TV service to more New York consumers via the company's all-digital, fiber-optic network. Verizon is now taking orders for its fiber-optic TV service in the Long Island villages of Farmingdale and Valley Stream, as well as the Town of Huntington hamlets of Centerport, Cold Spring Harbor, Greenlawn, Huntington Station, Huntington and Melville, and the Town of Smithtown hamlets of Hauppauge, Lake Grove, Lake Ronkonkoma, Nesconset, Smithtown and St. James. Also today, Verizon launched FiOS TV in the Westchester County village of Irvington.