Belgacom, Nokia Siemens Networks extend IPTV deal

Belgacom, Belgium’s leading telecoms operator, and Nokia Siemens Networks have extended their contract for the delivery and integration of an IPTV solution for another three years. Nokia Siemens Networks is also supporting Belgacom’s plan to add high-definition television to its existing portfolio of interactive TV services via IP-based broadband lines.

The two companies are building on a successful partnership in television services that began in 2004 with the supply of Nokia Siemens Networks’ IPTV solution. As a result, Belgacom’s total customer base for its TV platform soared to more than 190,000 subscribers by the end of June 2007, making it one of the top IPTV providers in the world.

As part of the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks also will be delivering and integrating set-top boxes for high-definition TV into Belgacom’s network. Set-top boxes are the most visible components in the subscribers’ home: they render the user interface to the consumer and decode standard and high-definition video and TV content. To save access bandwidth, high-definition content is transmitted in the highly compressed H.264 (MPEG-4) format.

Nokia Siemens Networks will deliver the first high-definition set-top boxes as from November and integrate them throughout Belgacom’s IPTV network. With the new high-definition TV set-top boxes, the Belgacom TV community will enter the new era of television services in the first half of 2008.

“Our upgraded network and the set-top boxes delivered by Nokia Siemens Networks will allow us to offer full triple play services, including multiple IPTV channels on multiple TV sets simultaneously and High Definition Television (HDTV) to about two thirds of the Belgian households in the year to come,” said Scott Alcott, Executive Vice President of Belgacom’s Service Delivery Engine.

In addition to broadcasting the major TV channels, Belgacom TV includes digital video recording, video- on-demand with a library of more than 1.400 titles and TV of yesterday, to mention just a few features. Premium content, such as pay-per-view for soccer matches, has already proven to be especially popular, with Belgacom’s exclusive broadcasting rights allowing fans to follow the matches of the Belgian Jupiler league live.