Phone Companies Get into the TV Business

Competition in the telecommunications industry has become fierce in the past few years, and phone companies have increasingly found themselves on the losing end. Competition from wireline, cellular, and voice over IP (VoIP) services, including those from cable TV companies, has reduced telephone carriers' customer bases, prices, and profit margins. To accomplish their goals, phone carriers are trying to provide the "triple play" of voice, video, and data services, which cable TV companies already offer. IPTV uses IP networks to deliver TV programming from a central location to a base of multiple subscribers. In addition to software that provides basic functionality, IPTV systems run middleware and both back-office and digital rights management (DRM) software