LAS VEGAS, USA: Microsoft Corp. announced at NXTcomm08 the addition of IPTV systems integration partners HP, Tech Mahindra Ltd and 180Squared Inc. to the Microsoft Mediaroom technology ecosystem.

The three companies completed a Mediaroom training and market-readiness program, enabling them to offer deployment services to new and existing Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV customers, including 20 of the world's leading service providers across four continents.

As part of the training and market-readiness program, the new systems integrators completed training, which ensures that service providers around the world will have various high-quality vendors to assist them with deployments of their Microsoft Mediaroom-powered connected TV service offerings. The expansion of the Microsoft Mediaroom technology ecosystem to include additional systems integrators reflects a growing interest in world- class IPTV services from broadband operators of various sizes and geographic locations.

HP, Tech Mahindra and 180Squared have also demonstrated their commitment to ensuring successful deployments of Microsoft Mediaroom-connected TV services by working with Microsoft to build center of excellence laboratories around the world. These facilities are being established to provide service providers with resources to take their IPTV operations from trial stages to commercial deployment.

With the help of these companies, Microsoft Mediaroom will continue to drive TV innovation worldwide. Fourteen service providers are commercially deploying Microsoft Mediaroom-powered services to offer advanced connected TV services to their customers. Microsoft Mediaroom-enabled advanced TV features include DVR Anywhere, which gives consumers the flexibility to watch recorded programs on any TV in their home, instant channel changing, and PC-to-TV photo and music sharing.

The Microsoft Mediaroom platform, which reached 1 million subscriber homes in the first quarter of 2008, is now powering connected TV services on more than 2 million TV sets worldwide. It took Mediaroom 18 months to reach its first million TVs and only five months, more than three times faster, to reach its second million TVs.