Siemens Communications and Entone Technology have signed a deal to incorporate Entone's set-top boxes in Siemens' IPTV solution. Under terms of the deal, Siemens' SURPASS Home Entertainment solutions will be integrated with Entone's Hydra IP Video Gateway so that service providers can hook up IPTV to a customer's existing coaxial cables. This will make the cost of installing IPTV substantially lower because customers will not have to pay hefty sums to resolve wiring issues.
The Hydra set-top box enables line sharing so users can access the Internet while they are watching TV. It also supports up to three simultaneous video streams over a single DSL line, as well as high-speed data and telephone features such as caller ID and call waiting. Siemens also uses boxes from Thomson and Amino and currently claims IPTV contracts covering more than 38 million broadband lines.
For more on the Siemens, Entone deal:
- check out this press release