(20 December 2006 8:30 pm)

NEW DELHI: Times Broadband Services Pvt Ltd (TBSPL) has expressed its preparedness with a content delivery network for IPTV which it wants to offer to telecom and cable TV operators.

"We are ready with 100 TV channels and have set up an agnostic platform," said Times Broadband CEO Sujata Dev.

TBSPL had tied up with MTNL to offer IPTV on the telecom major's network. Now it is also looking at going with other telecom operators as well.

The company expects 500 channels would come on board their platform for IPTV. TBSPL has already signed up with a few content providers which includes Time Media, IMI, Film and Television Producers' Guild, Globecast and Star TV. "I cannot disclose the names of many others because IPTV would need a little more clarity as far as regulations are concerned and that would decide on the tariff of pay channels," Dev said.

Many broadcasters are hesitant to sign in as content providers because they are uncertain whether the service would be controlled by the Cas rules or treated under telecom or IT rules.

"IPTV is a value-added service for a telecom operator and we hope that it would be dictated by telecom laws and regulations," Dev said.

The formal launch was done by minister of state for urban development and poverty alleviation, Ajay Maken, who declared this (IPTV technology) as an unthinkable revolution.

Dev in her presentation said that TBSPL would aggregate content from multiple sources and provide the content delivery platform to telecom operators. The company has partners in Hewlett Packard, Optibase, Verimatrix, Kassena and Amino.

Dev said that at the moment TBSPL is offering 100 TV channels, FTA, and list of pay channels as second tier; 10 feature films through video on demand with fast forward, rewind and pause features; 10 hours of music cutting across genres; 10 hours of interactive games, 10 hours of browsing and 100 TV-to-TV SMS. Later, there would come premium offerings, which will include video telephony on TV with plug-in camera; T-Banking, T-information; T-time shift TV, etc.

The operation is intended as a conduit between the telecom operators and content producers and providers in the convergence space "In convergence technology there is always some discrepancy against one of the players, and this is where we play the role of the conduit," Dev said.