| Information note to the press |
International Telecommunication Union
For immediate release |
| Telephone: | +41 22 730 6039 | |
| Telefax: | +41 22 730 5933 |
| E-mail: | pressinfo |
|
IPTV Given Global Standards Boost at ITU
Group Formed to Address Market Need for Accelerated IPTV
Deployment
Geneva, 13 April 2006
— ITU will
take the lead in international standardization for IPTV with the creation of a
Focus Group on IPTV (IPTV FG). Today’s announcement follows an agreement reached
at a public consultation meeting held on 4 and 5 April where around 120 experts
from the world’s leading ICT companies backed up ITU’s role in the coordination
of global IPTV standards. The decision was made because of the benefits of
worldwide standards for all players in the IPTV value chain and the need to
achieve rapid progress to avoid market fragmentation. The first meeting of this
group will be held in July 2006.
The announcement, while acknowledging that standards work is ongoing in many
different places, including ITU, is a reaction to an industry call for ITU to
push forward and coordinate global standardization effort in the field.
IPTV is a system where a digital television service is delivered to consumers
using internet protocol over a broadband connection. It will help pave the way
for players, many of whom are already moving to IP-based NGN infrastructure, to
offer a triple-play of video, voice and data.
Standards are necessary in order to give service providers, whether
traditional broadcasters, ISPs or telecommunication service providers, control
over their platforms and their offerings. Standards here will encourage
innovation, help mask the complexity of services, guarantee quality of service (QoS),
ensure interoperability and ultimately help players remain competitive.
The mission of IPTV FG is to coordinate and promote the development of global
IPTV standards taking into account the existing work of the ITU study groups as
well as other standards development organizations (SDOs), forums and
consortiums. In particular, the IPTV FG will:
1. Define IPTV
-
Identify scenarios, drivers and relationships
with other services and networks
-
Identify requirements and define framework
architecture
2. Review and gap analysis of existing standards
and ongoing works
3. Coordinate existing standardization activities
4. Harmonize the development of new standards
5. Encourage interoperability with existing systems where possible
More information including inputs to the meeting as well as a webcast can be
found here.
The Focus Group will build upon existing work. Its scope will include
architecture, requirements, quality of service, security, network and control
aspects, end-system aspects, as well as interoperability, middleware and
application platforms.
For more information please contact:
Mr Toby Johnson
Communication Officer
Tel: +41 22 730 5877
Email Contact
About ITU
|
