Macsimum News - Australia’s Telstra drops Microsoft TV

Australia’s Telstra drops Microsoft TV

Posted by Dennis Sellers Apple ico Jun 22, 2005 at 4:13pm

The Interactive Investor reports that Telstra Corp has decided not to use Microsoft TV as its Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) platform, according to Telstra spokesman Warwick Ponder.

Ponder said the Australian carrier is searching for a new platform to launch a planned IPTV offering. The decision has killed any change that Telstra and Microsoft will together offer Australian businesses a new range of wireless technology for fixed and mobile phones and Microsoft smart phones.

Some market analysts said Telstra could be reacting to a deal between its major rival Optus and ninemsn.com, Australia’s top Internet portal, which is co-owned by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and Microsoft. Under that deal, Optus broadband and mobile customers will receive ninemsn content that is expected to eventually include IPTV.

The Telstra decision is the second rejection outside of the US to Microsoft’s IPTV aspirations in as many months. European firm Swisscom’s deployment of Microsoft TV was delayed recently by at least six months due to technical issues. Telstra is said to be looking at an IPTV launch in about 18 months.

In April, during a presentation made by Bob Wilson of Modulus, it was revealed that SBC had shifted course away from VC-1 in favor of AVC exclusively in their IP/TV systems.

Roy Arlington Says:

Hey Neo:

How about a little help here in what we all know is your area of expertise — international mystery & IPTV.

Thanks

Posted on June 22, 2005

Neo Says:

Derrick is a Macsimum reader who just passed along another interesting link to this story:

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=12471&hed=Telstra+Cancels+Microsoft+TV

Thanks Derrick.

Hey Roy,

I’ve covered IPTV in a number of chapters, and when there’s not enough to form a full report, I file possible relevant pieces to the puzzle in news reports. I’m on holidays and a break for the next 3 months or longer so as to give me time to investigate new technologies. Hey, the switch to Intel will have me reading for the next 6 months alone.

In between time, I’ll be filling smaller reports and more patent findings that are quite interesting.

As far as Telstra goes, they have a connection to DoCoMo’s imode phone line as is Apple:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/jun/03quicktime.html

I just hope Telstra’s time line of 18 months isn’t a timeframe for Apple’s QTV full web service platform launch. That’s a little too far out and would give MS a little too much time to establish their (garbage) platform. I’m hoping it’s just Telstra’s mistake in choosing MS TV and that they need that much time to start over from scratch....with...well you know.

Cheers!

Posted on June 22, 2005

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Dennis Sellers

Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.