Since May 2008, residents in central Beirut have been enjoying 120 on-demand television channels with a range of movies, sports and TV programs streamed directly to their TVs over a state-of-the-art Metro Ethernet network. It is believed to be one of the first commercially available IPTV services in the Middle East, and the first to support broadcast and on-demand HDTV. The service has been delivered, installed, supported and integrated into the existing Solidere-operated private broadband network that was designed and deployed by Orange in 2006.

Lionel Reina, vice president of the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region, Orange Business Services, said: “Beirut is a 21st century city so it deserves 21st century telecoms services. By bringing our expertise of developing broadband and IPTV services in Europe to Lebanon, we have created one of the most advanced IPTV services anywhere in the Middle East. This is just one step in our goal to enable Smart Cities throughout the region, where broadband is the fundamental building block for improved living and working.”

Subscribers to the IPTV service receive an integrated home gateway and set-top box featuring a personal video recorder, which also supports time-shift TV and video-on-demand. Each subscriber has a 100 Mbps access line ensuring there is sufficient bandwidth for more than three simultaneous TV channels as well as high-speed Internet access.

The IPTV network is supported by the existing Solidere-operated private broadband network that was designed and deployed by Orange in 2006. This MPLS network supports a range of multimedia services alongside a scalable Internet gateway including video-on-demand, videoconferencing, closed circuit television, and gaming services.

Solidere’s IPTV service, the first of its kind in Lebanon, is being implemented by Orange under its Solutions for Operators service. Solutions for Operators specifically addresses the needs of existing or new telecoms operators like Solidere whose strategy is to offer next generation telecommunications services as a core component of their real estate developments to assure previously unobtainable revenue streams.

*About Orange* Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. France Telecom serves close to 174 million customers in five continents as of June 30, 2008, of which two thirds are Orange customers. The Group had consolidated sales of 52.9 billion euros in 2007 (26.3 billion euros for the first half 2008). As of June 30, 2008, the Group had 113.8 million mobile customers and 12.2 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers.

Launched in June 2005, the NExT program (New Experience in Telecommunications) will enable the Group to pursue its transformation as an integrated operator and make France Telecom the benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. In 2006, Orange became the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates, and Orange Business Services the banner for services offered to businesses worldwide. France Telecom is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

For more information: www.orange.com , www.francetelecom.com , www.orange-business.com 

Source: Al Bawaba