MTNL to Launch Internet TV
By ST Team   |   Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: While snazzy private players mull over the introduction of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) in India, state-owned MTNL has nudged he others aside and moved ahead in the race. The company is all set to launch IPTV using broadband services in the next 2-3 months. This facility will be enabled by MTNL’s tie-up with IOL Broadband and two other content vendors. MTNL General Manager (Broadband Services) Peeyush Agrawal said, "We are looking to launch IPTV in the next few months, hopefully by October." The new service will help users make calls, use the net, and watch TV through a single MTNL cable. Executive Director at MTNL (Mumbai), M S Rana said, "We have always aimed at being a total telecom service provider, and value added services is a new chapter.” He added that through IPTV, one would get over 200 channels, along with video-on-demand. To make way for IPTV viewing on the existing TV, users would need a set-top box, one end of which would be connected to the TV and the other to a broadband MTNL cable. Agarwal says that IPTV quality will be better than cable TV and DTH broadcast since the former will make use broadband services. In addition to providing the usual assortment of channels, IPTV will also offer video-on-demand (VoD) service that will allow a user to select and watch movies and videos of his/her choice.Since the VoD service is interactive and personal, so a user could stop, rewind or fast-forward a movie to one's liking. MTNL informed that VoD will also allow one to watch film premiers and Hollywood films as and when they are broadcast overseas. Presently, these films usually reach Indian television with a lag of nine-months. Agarwal also believes that IPTV technology will make way for TV viewing on high-end mobiles. The IPTV sector is growing rapidly and major television broadcasters worldwide are transmitting their broadcast signal over the Internet.

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