Bellsouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. played a big role in the opening keynote appearance by Bill Gates last night at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft’s chairman and chief software architect announced that BellSouth will be using the software giant’s IPTV platform, following in SBC’s footsteps.
BellSouth today announced a technical trial of Microsoft TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform. The company says it will use new DSL technologies, including ADSL2+ and copper pair bonding, and its 5 million miles of fiber cabling, to trial a video offer during the first half of 2005. BellSouth also will continue to expand its fiber-to-the-curb network, which passes 1 million homes, to an additional 180,000 customers in 2005. BellSouth is completing testing of IPTV hardware and software within its labs and will later expand its trial to set-top boxes within customers' homes selected for the trial. BellSouth then will evaluate further deployment based upon results of the trial.
"IPTV will potentially forever alter the way we consume video content much like personal video recorders have done," said Bill Smith, CTO of BellSouth in a press statement. "IPTV places customers in the driver's seat and gives them complete control of their entertainment experience regardless of the media format or on which device within their home they wish to use. We're bringing together the benefits of broadband, the rapid adoption of home networking technology and the magic of software to give customers content where, when and how they want it."
SBC, which last year announced plans to be the first U.S. telco to use Microsoft’s IPTV platform, was a featured guest during the Gates appearance. LeeAnn Champion, senior executive vice president of IP services at SBC, said IPTV will provide the telco with four simultaneous video streams per home and HDTV. It also will allow every room in the house to be PVR-equipped, enable instant channel changing and bringing about the convergence of voice, video and data.
For example, Champion demonstrated how a Motorola phone could program a home PVR, and she even previewed a video clip on the cell phone.
But the part of Champion’s presentation that drew the most attention was a Major League Baseball demo showing how IPTV can allow home TV viewers to watch multiple baseball games at once with always-onscreen scores and a variety of camera angles. The standing-room only audience at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater cheered at seeing these features.
SBC late last year said it plans to do a 100- to 1,000-home field trial of video over new fiber-to-the-node facilities in the first quarter of 2005, with commercial rollout of video expected to begin in the third or fourth quarter. This is part of SBC’s larger $4 billion Project Lightspeed initiative.
Also this week, SBC announced it will use its own DSL services and 2Wire Inc.’s set-top box to deliver a home entertainment service integrating satellite TV programming, DVR, VoD and content, including Yahoo! Photos and music.
Gates – whose comments were made in a talk-show format featuring surprise host Conan O’Brien – also discussed the growth and future opportunities in digital music and online gaming as well as other developments driving the convergence of communications.
The Microsoft founder mentioned that MTV will use Microsoft software for rights management and TiVo Inc. will deliver recorded television to Portable Media Centers and Smartphones and Pocket PCs equipped with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile.
