TORONTO and REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 9, 2003 — Microsoft Corp. and Bell Canada today announced that the two companies intend to work together to test and deploy television services based on new Internet Protocol television (IPTV) technology. With Bell ExpressVu digital programming, Bell Canada plans to be the first telecommunications company in Canada and among the first in the world to trial the delivery of services over an IP broadband network using IPTV technology being developed by Microsoft®
TV.
Bell Canada and Microsoft will jointly explore delivery of engaging, high-quality digital TV programming over Bell Canada’s broadband network through the use of Microsoft TV IPTV technology. Through this initiative, Bell will provide Canadians with innovative ways to receive the information and entertainment they want, where and when they want it.
“We’re pleased to be working with Microsoft to jointly test new IPTV solutions,” said Eugene Roman, group president of systems and technology at Bell Canada. “Initiatives like this technology trial allow us to explore new ways to deliver services to our customers and ultimately provide them with more choice on how they can receive those services. This is part of our overall video strategy to find more ways to deliver Bell ExpressVu digital programming services to customers on their terms, whether through satellite or wire line.”
Microsoft TV’s planned IPTV solution will use industry-leading video compression technology to dramatically reduce bandwidth requirements, enabling Bell Canada to deliver broadcast-quality video services to a variety of devices over its broadband network. Microsoft TV’s IPTV solution is designed to support standard and high-definition channels, on-demand programming and interactive program guides, as well as future service offerings that leverage two-way, interactive platforms.
“Microsoft TV’s IPTV solution will provide high-quality, cost-efficient, next-generation media delivery and viewer experiences,” said Moshe Lichtman, corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV Division at Microsoft. “It will allow Bell Canada to maximize the value of its network and its Bell ExpressVu digital programming service. Bell Canada is well-positioned as a world-leading telecommunications and digital TV provider to kick off our new IPTV effort to transform the market for advanced video services.”
About Bell Canada
Bell Canada, Canada’s national leader in communications, provides connectivity to residential and business customers through wired and wireless voice and data communications, local and long distance phone services, high-speed and wireless Internet access, IP-broadband services, e-business solutions and satellite television services. Bell Canada is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For more information please visit http://www.bell.ca/.
About the Microsoft TV Platform
Microsoft TV is a family of standards-based client and server software products and related developer tools that help network operators create digital TV services which delight subscribers and derive more value from digital TV investments. Microsoft TV enables the delivery of new services such as video on demand, on-demand storefronts, interactive program guides, managed content services, digital video recording, enhanced programming, e-mail, instant messaging and more, across a full range of set-top boxes and TV devices. More information about Microsoft TV can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/tv/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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