The Hindu Business Line : TV remote may soon double as phone

If you get a phone call while watching TV, you could use the remote to first pause the programme using the IPTV platform and then answer the call using the same remote.

Hangzhou April 26 If you are one of those who get hassled when you have to attend an important telephone call while watching your favourite television programme, help could soon be at your hand.

In a bid to make its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) offering more attractive, US-based equipment provider UTStarcom is adding a number of new applications including one that will allow subscribers to use their television remote as a telephone.

So if a phone call lands up while watching television, you could use the remote to first pause the programme using the IPTV platform and then answer the telephone call using the same remote.

And once you are through with the call you can resume watching the programme right from where you left without missing any part of it. IPTV technology allows subscribers to access television programme that are as old as a week, depending on the storage capacity installed by the operator.

The technology basically enables subscribers to watch television using telephone lines but with a number of vendors betting big on IPTV, much is being done to add newer features and applications. UTStarcom, for instance, has also developed a platform which will enable users to send short messages (SMS) to a television using their mobile phones.

Since IPTV uses the Internet, every television connected to the network will be given a unique identity number using which SMS can be sent. While UTStarcom's IPTV platform allows subscribers to watch programmes according to their interest, it also allows the operators to push advertisements related to the content being sourced by the subscriber.

Key Markets

"If a subscriber is watching a movie on cars, then advertisements specific to automobiles can be shown to that subscriber. It makes watching television that personalised.

The advantage here is that the operator can keep the subscription fee very low even as revenue is earned through advertisement," said Mr Manish Matta, Director of International Marketing, UTStarcom.

Microsoft and Nortel are some of the other large technology providers who are vying for a larger share of the IPTV market. In India, State owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is offering IPTV services in Delhi and Mumbai using UTStarcom's platform.

"China and India are the key markets for us and we see a huge potential for IPTV services in these markets," said Mr Brian Caskey, Vice-President, Wordwide Marketing, UTStarcom.

More Stories on : ISPs | Convergence | Radio/TV

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TV remote may soon double as phone