Shanghai Telecom Rolls Out IPTV With Tandberg’s MPEG-4 AVC

BEIJING, March 1, 2006/Satnews Daily/ — Tandberg Television (TAT.OL) announced on Tuesday it has worked closely with Siemens to provide the MPEG-4 AVC video compression that enabled the deployment of IPTV for Shanghai Telecom and the Shanghai Media Group.

Tandberg said the Shanghai partnership was the first operation in China to secure an IPTV license and has been trialing its new digital television service since the summer of 2004. The full service was launched last month to an audience over 100% higher than the anticipated subscriber base in Shanghai’s up-market Pudong district and demand has now already exceeded the end of year forecast, according to Tandgerg. The service is delivering over 50 channels of content from providers such as CCTV and Shanghai Media Group.

“IPTV provides network operators with the opportunity to boost their ARPU and reduce their churn by enticing China’s 360 million TV viewers and 25 million broadband users away from traditional cable and satellite Pay-TV and offering them a fully interactive, on-demand TV experience,” says Geng Liang, general manager of Tandberg Television China. “China can see the vast potential in digital television and we are working closely with our partners and our customers to build a next generation digital TV infrastructure,” he said.

Tandberg Television’s video systems are designed to enable IPTV offerings to compete effectively with existing cable and satellite TV services and to add new revenue streams, through on-demand services and interactivity. The solution for Shanghai Telecom consists of a Tandberg Television standard definition MPEG-4 AVC head-end which provides significant bandwidth savings of up to 50% on MPEG-2, and enables superior picture and sound quality. Tandberg said its EN5930 encoder is ideal in IPTV deployments where the bandwidth limitations inherent with existing DSL platforms create a challenge for operators in providing a broadcast quality video service to their customers.

Tandberg Television said it has rolled out over 50 successful IPTV deployments and has invested in the technology and skills to become the world expert in the digital television market. Successful IPTV deployments have been carried out for customers including PCCW, Swisscom, Belgacom, KPN, Sistema, Fastweb and Lyse Energy.

Recent Stories:

Tandberg Acquires SkyStream for $80-M

Tandberg TV, PCCW Partner in IPTV HDTV Roll-out

Japan's JSAT Trials Tandberg MPEG-4 AVC HD Compression

Tandberg Television Appoints Eric Baron as President of EMEA