At Telecom Video Europe in amsterdam, OpenTV announced on May 10 the introduction of an IPTV edition of its software to allow network operators to deploy internet protocol services over broadband networks.

The new product, OpenTV Core 2.0 for IPTV, will be available next month. It extends the capabilities of OpenTV's middleware to enable delivery over either IP networks or hybrid systems combining broadcast and network-based services.

Tim Evard of OpenTV explained: "With OpenTV IPTV, operators can now build IPTV services without compromising on advanced features such as video on demand, personal video recording and interactivity, while relying on a proven platform with global distribution, support services and a world-wide developer community with OpenTV applications and content ready to deploy."

OpenTV says the product is aimed both at new entrants to the digital TV market, and cable or satellite operators that may wish to take advantage of their existing infrastructure in deploying internet protocol services. It will also enable over 35 set-top box manufacturer licensees to deliver IP capable set-top boxes with OpenTV Core middleware. OpenTV software is deployed in 50 million set-top boxes in 96 countries.

The solution may be attractive to existing network operators that may be planning to extend their offering to take advantage of broadband delivery over data networks. It will be competing with a number of middleware systems or application platforms from other vendors that have been specifically developed for IPTV services.