CHICAGO—L.M. Ericsson launched a new end-to-end Internet Protocol TV offering, saying the solution is the first step in the company’s long-term plans for TV services. During a press conference at the Globalcomm trade show, the company laid out its IPTV vision, explaining that it expects to leverage its market position in IP Multimedia Subsystem equipment and mobile TV technology to stake out a leading spot in the IPTV arena.
IPTV technology enables services like broadcast TV, video-on-demand, personal video recording and electronic programming guides, and although other European vendors have already launched IPTV solutions, Ericsson’s timing may still be on the mark. As the August Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction nears, the Swedish vendor has placed itself at the nexus of voice, data and video services. Thus, if non-wireless players such as Comcast Corp. make a splash at the AWS auction, they could potentially turn to Ericsson for triple or even quadruple-play services.
In a press release, Claes Ödman, Ericsson’s vice president of multimedia solutions, said, “IPTV is much more than traditional TV broadcast over the IP network—it is about integrating media with communications services to deliver personalized, interactive television no matter where the viewer is.”
Ericsson pointed out that its IPTV network is designed to support both ADSL and VDSL access networks, and will employ MPEG-4 encoding technology to deliver video. In addition, the company noted that components can be open-sourced, giving operators, as well as subscribers, the flexibility to choose the accompanying equipment they feel best suits their needs.
During Globalcomm, Ericsson teamed with Sony Corp. to demonstrate the benefits of combining IMS-based personalized TV and Sony’s networked home, which was based on Digital Living Network Alliance standards. Ericsson said the demo showed that a combination of technologies based on IMS and DLNA standards enables end users to personalize their media services and access them anywhere at any time.
