Efforts to accelerate the deployment of IPTV by combining the expertise of key telecom operators, consumer electronics manufacturers and network infrastructure providers in the Open IPTV Forum are gathering further momentum, and the first release of the specifications that will allow IPTV to develop into a mass market service is close to completion.

At its meeting at the headquarters of Telefónica in Madrid from 10-13 June, the Open IPTV Forum, the pan-industry initiative that was established to produce the end-to-end solution specification which will open up access to the interactive and personalised services offered by IPTV, significantly expanded its membership. These companies join the founding members - Ericsson, FT Group, Nokia Siemens Networks, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony and Telecom Italia - and many other major IPTV industry players from the communications and entertainment industries (www.openiptvforum.org/members.html), bringing to 37 the number of companies which are working together in the Forum.

Since April this year, 11 new members have been accepted:
Access Company
BeeTV
FastWeb
Digital Fountain
Intel
InterTrust Technology Corporation
Motorola
Opera Software
Thomson
Swisscom
ZyXEL

Yun Chao Hu, Chairman of the Forum, commented:
"These new members represent a wide range of interest and broaden the input to the Forum's activities both technically and geographically; they reinforce the Forum's presence in the USA, with four new member companies (Digital Fountain, Intel, InterTrust Technology Corporation and Motorola) and establish the Forum's presence in Taiwan (ZyXel).

"Work on the new specifications is progressing fast. The Forum has already produced the first version of a Service and Platform Requirements document and the first architecture specification. We are now working round the clock to meet our target of publishing Release 1 in September this year. Release 1 will solve the problem of fragmentation within the market by standardising an IPTV framework, enabling a 'plug and play' experience for the end-user and, by ensuring interoperability, will make IPTV independent of the technology behind it."

Over the coming months, the Forum will be exhibiting at some of the world's largest consumer entertainment industry events:
-IPTV World Forum North America - Chicago, US, 22-23 July
-IFA, the world's largest consumer electronics trade fair - Berlin, Germany,
29 August - 3 September
-MPEG Industry Forum - Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 11 September
-IBC, the major international event for all involved in the creation, management and delivery of content for the entertainment industry - Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 12-16 September.