MUMBAI: Tandberg Television in association with Siemens has provided the MPEG-4 AVC video compression solution to Shanghai Telecom and the Shanghai Media Group to enable the deployment of IPTV.

The Shanghai partnership was the first operation in China to secure an IPTV license and has been trialling its new digital television service since the summer of 2004. The service is delivering over 50 channels of content from providers such as CCTV and Shanghai Media Group, according to an official release.

"IPTV provides network operators with the opportunity to boost their ARPU and reduce their churn by enticing China's 360 million TV viewers and 25 million broadband users away from traditional cable and satellite Pay-TV and offering them a fully interactive, on-demand TV experience. China can see the vast potential in digital television and we are working closely with our partners and our customers to build a next generation digital TV infrastructure," says Tandberg Television China GM Geng Liang.

Tandberg Television's video systems are designed to enable IPTV offerings to compete effectively with existing cable and satellite TV services and to add new revenue streams, through on-demand services and interactivity, states an official release.

The solution for Shanghai Telecom consists of a Tandberg Television standard definition MPEG-4 AVC head-end which provides bandwidth savings of up to 50 per cent on MPEG-2, and enables superior picture and sound quality. The Tandberg EN5930 encoder is ideal in IPTV deployments where the bandwidth limitations inherent with existing DSL platforms create a challenge for operators in providing a broadcast quality video service to their customers, the release adds.

"Tandberg Television is our video head-end partner of choice and we have collaborated on a number of IPTV deployments around the world. Our joint efforts have enabled operators to achieve rapid success in the TV market and Tandberg Television has consistently provided superior technology solutions and support. We are delighted to be working closely together on this groundbreaking project in Shanghai," says China Home Entertainment Solution senior director Zhang Jian.