Research and Markets has announced the addition of Screen Digest's new report "Television Market Monitor: IPTV Q1 2009" to their offering.

IPTV launches from major telcos across the globe have been responsible for rapid uptake of the new pay-TV platform. IPTV Market Monitor is a quarterly report detailing and describing the continued roll-out of the platform around the world.

SureWest will deploy the award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV software platform to deliver an advanced TV service over its existing IP-based fiber-to-the-home and copper networks in the greater Sacramento, CA region. The innovative television service is expected to be available to new customers by the end of 2009 and, combined with other recent advances in technologies, will enable SureWest to offer enhanced video services to an additional 25,000 marketable homes that currently receive only the company's telephone and high-speed Internet services. SureWest will reach 15,000 additional homes with video services in December 2009 and an additional 10,000 by the second quarter of 2010 for a total of 25,000.

Verismo Networks and Sonic Solutions are bringing Hollywood blockbusters and world class films to living rooms everywhere. Adding the popular Roxio CinemaNow content to the VuNow Internet TV platform, Verismo is enhancing the entertainment options for movie lovers -- letting people watch an extensive content library directly on the TV without a computer.

Digital Rapids announces support for Microsoft Silverlight 3 in Digital Rapids' comprehensive range of studio encoding, transcoding and live streaming systems. Silverlight 3 support further extends the proven abilities of Digital Rapids' award-winning solutions for delivering unparalleled, high-quality, live and on-demand online video experiences.

Digital Utilities Ventures has selected Amino Communications as best set top box manufacturer for its breakthrough IPTV delivery system. The New Last Mile uses an Internet based platform to deliver its TV programming. This means that Digital Utilities Ventures can deliver live programming of broadcast quality from anywhere in the world over the Internet directly.

Cable operations and fixed-line telecoms operators continue their battle over a superior share in the triple-play arena. However, mobile operators have shown their interest in seizing a piece of the market while satellite TV providers are also complementing their core services with fixed-line offerings. The future of pure-play providers appears limited, as the credit crunch places further pressure on consumers to seek the most cost effective way of obtaining the services they need.

'The Future of Triple-Play: Growth opportunities, key challenges and competitive strategies' is a report that examines the market opportunities and challenges for triple-play services. The report analyzes the market conditions that have driven the deployment of triple-play services, and the strategies employed by leading service providers. It identifies the challenges faced by companies, and also provides recommendations into how to best counter competitive threats, extend service portfolios, and boost revenue potential in this rapidly evolving market.

Verizon's Wireline segment reported continued strong growth in the number of new customers of fiber-optic-based FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services, and continued increased revenues from enterprise strategic services. In the second quarter:

• Verizon added 303,000 net new FiOS Internet customers, a record number for the second consecutive quarter. By the end of the second quarter, the company had 3.1 million FiOS Internet customers, an increase of 56.1 percent compared with June 30, 2008.
• FiOS Internet sales penetration (sales as a percentage of potential customers) increased to 28.1 percent, compared with 23.5 percent at June 30, 2008. FiOS Internet was available for sale to 11.0 million premises by the end of the quarter.
• Verizon added 300,000 net new FiOS TV customers. The company had 2.5 million FiOS TV customers by the end of the quarter, an increase of 82.1 percent compared with June 30, 2008.
• FiOS TV sales penetration increased to 24.6 percent, compared with 19.7 percent as of June 30, 2008. FiOS TV service was available for sale to 10.3 million premises by the end of the quarter.

German payTV operator Sky has selected Pace HD technology for its set-top box deployments in Germany and Austria. This deployment of Pace set-top boxes, rolling out from August 2009, will support Sky’s HD expansion plans across its territories.

Pace has been a set-top box technology partner of Sky, formerly Premiere, for a number of years and the new DS830 gives Sky the full flexibility to roll-out HD services with support for both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.

Thomson has started deliveries of a new version of its hybrid terrestrial/IPTV/satellite HD set-top box to Orange for its television service. The set-top box will support both free-to-air and subscription television services, as well as interactive and on-demand content.

With this new HD device, subscribers can use Orange Television's catch-up TV service and its extensive library of video on demand content, including those available in high definition, through a seamless interface.

EchoStar Satellite Services agrees to deliver its ViP-TV video transport service to Citizens Cablevision, a full service provider of digital television programming in Virginia and a wholly owned subsidiary of Citizens Telephone Cooperative. Citizens will receive transport of up to 42 popular high definition TV channels to its IP headend.

Arqiva has agreed to acquire the platform assets of Project Kangaroo, the VOD platform developed by UKVOD LLP, a joint venture set up by BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4. The acquisition is expected to be concluded within a few weeks.

The assets comprise the hardware and software technology, and related intellectual property developed for the Project Kangaroo service. They provide the technical basis of a VOD platform designed for a content aggregation service, where a wide variety of TV content is brought together in a one-stop-shop for long-form video content. Under Project Kangaroo the platform was close to being ready for market launch before the initiative was prohibited by the Competition Commission.

IIR’s Telecoms Market Forecasting conference will be taking place in London between 28th September and 1st October. This year’s event will feature an exclusive operator led programme that will include case studies from the likes of Vodafone Group, Orange-Business Services, Telenor Norway and Zain Saudi Arabia.

This year’s event programme has been designed to reflect the current economic climate and will provide an insight into how service providers around the world are adapting their forecasting techniques to ensure the accuracy of their forecasts during difficult times.

Verimatrix announced that Iowa Network Services has deployed the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System for IPTV to protect its IPTV wholesale network with a combination of central and local linear content provisioning. INS, which represents a network of independent telephone companies that provides telecommunications services to rural Iowans, is currently using the Verimatrix security system via its Digital Entertainment Television platform to nine local operators and more than 25,000 set-top boxes across Iowa.

BNS is demonstrating its recently launched interactive TV shopping application, BNS Touch, for the first time in the U.S. at IPTV World Forum North America, which is taking place July 21-22 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City.

BNS Touch, which was launched at CommunicAsia in Singapore last month and is already being integrated on the platform of a major IPTV operator, is an innovative multimedia solution designed to open new revenue streams and enhance customer loyalty for IPTV operators.

The number of subscribers worldwide to telco/IPTV services will approach 40 million by year-end 2009, according to international research firm Parks Associates. The strong growth in telco/IPTV services is due partly to aggressive provider deployments, according to the firm's new white paper IPTV and the Digital Home, but the most successful rollouts will incorporate multiple services, such as home networking, convergence in entertainment and communications features, and unique interactive services such as quality on-demand programming.