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Microsoft Clinches IPTV Deal with Deutsche TelekomTMCnet Contributing Editor Deutsche Telekom has decided to use Microsoft's software to deliver television and video-on-demand over its improved Internet Protocol network starting this summer.
This is the biggest European contract Microsoft (News - Alert) TV has signed to date - and the second largest deal after one inked with AT&T earlier this year. Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft have not disclosed financial details about the deal. Deutsche Telekom’s "T-Home" television service will be delivered via a $3.7 billion network upgrade, which Deutsche Telekom expects to bring to 50 German cities by the end of next year. “It is a very large deal for us and brings the overall number of contracts to 13,” Reuters quoted Microsoft TV's marketing manager Christine Heckart as saying. “We forecast 1 million customers by the end of 2007. The main feature of the new network will be television and video services,” said Deutsche Telekom spokesman Mark Nierwetberg. Deutsche Telekom has plans to upgrade subscribers in 10 large German cities to VDSL (supercharged version of ADSL offering data speeds up to 50 Megabits per second) or very fast digital subscriber lines. The company aims to link a further 40 cities by the end of 2007, bringing the total investment to 3 billion euros. Deutsche Telekom hopes to deliver several high definition television programs simultaneously to the home.
----- Niladri Sekhar Nath is a contributing writer for TMCnet covering telecommunications, service providers and networking. |