IPTV, Entertainment, China: China Telecom has signed a contract where UTStarcom's RollingStream end-to-end system will be installed in a new commercial IPTV network in China's Shanxi Province.

At present, more than 80% of all IPTV subscribers in China utilise UTStarcom. This deployment will support 30,000 subscribers, and is planned to include 14 service points covering major metropolitan areas of Xian, the capital city of Shanxi Province.

The IPTV service is expected to offer up to 80 channels of live television; 24-hour time-shifting capability; approximately 10,000 hours of Video-on-Demand (VOD) content; and valued-added services including karaoke and gaming.

Ying Wu, President and CEO of UTStarcom China, declared: “Many of our initial IPTV deployments in China are currently undergoing network expansions as demand for the service has grown. Additionally, we are seeing new deployments emerge as fixed-line operators are realising the potential for deploying IPTV services to combat subscriber churn and increase average revenue per user.”

* At ITU Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong UTStarcom's RollingStream IPTV solution was named the best IPTV solution worldwide by Communications Weekly, a publication under the guidance of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) in China. UTStarcom was also awarded the Development Contribution Award for its efforts for IPTV standardisation in China.

• more info: www.utstar.com