Advanced Television

Japan standardisation for IPTV services

June 26, 2008

Japanese companies are to unify standards for IPTV services. The standardisation process will be led by a forum established by three major telecommunications services firms: NTT, KDDI, and Softbank BB. The forum has been joined by 15 businesses and organisations, its members now include Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba, Sharp, and Hitachi as well as the five major commercial TV broadcasters in Tokyo and NHK.

The forum is to draw up unified standards by the end of August and urge

Japanese IPTV service providers and consumer electronics makers to develop compatible technologies and equipment. Sony, Matsushita and others aim to start selling flat-panel TVs with built-in IPTV receivers by the end of March. The number of subscribers to broadband communications services in Japan reached 28.73 million as of March 31st, enabling the spread of IPTV services.

The forum is expected to pitch its IPTV standards to the International Telecommunication Union and other global bodies for use worldwide.

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