ITU launches 2nd IPTV Application Challenge

Search for Smart Living Solutions

GENEVA — Themed, “Better Quality of Life”, the International Telecommunication Union’s second IPTV Application Challenge is inviting innovative IPTV solutions from individuals, small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporations to improve social welfare through services in fields such as e-health, e-government, e-learning, ICT accessibility and all aspects of Smart Living.

The winning application in the individual/SME category will be awarded a cash prize of 3,000 USD. There is a separate category for corporate entries. Winners will be announced at the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-12), in Dubai 20-29 November. WTSA is a quadrennial event gathering around 1000 representatives of the ICT industry’s most influential policy makers, regulators and private-sector enterprises. The winning and most promising applications will be showcased at this and many subsequent ITU events, maximizing global visibility and attracting investment in their development.

Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU): “ITU’s IPTV standards are providing secure end-to-end solutions for broadcasters and service providers around the world. These application challenges are a proven platform to drive innovative use of the medium and tapping into the minds of engineers around the world. I look forward to some excellent results.”

Following a very successful Challenge in 2011, the 2nd Challenge will add further fuel to an already vibrant IPTV market today serving over 60 million IPTV subscribers. Supported by deployments of high-speed broadband networks, the industry is growing at roughly 25 per cent annually. Additionally, the average revenue per user is increasing, signalling a better monetization of IPTV services and tremendous revenue opportunities to the companies serving a market expected to double in size within the 2011-2014 timeframe.

ITU’s standardized solutions are already implemented in the IPTV global marketplace, and increased adoption of the standards will provide further stimulus to the market’s growth. The standardized platforms provided by ITU IPTV Recommendations are more cost-effective and flexible than proprietary solutions, and critically grant applications and services a global reach.

Challenge participants are required to develop applications running over, either:

• Recommendation ITU-T H.761 Nested context language (NCL) and Ginga-NCL for IPTV services, or;
• Recommendation ITU-T H.762 Lightweight interactive multimedia environment (LIME) for IPTV services

Key dates:

• Registration period: 15 June – 15 August 2012
• Submission period: 13 August – 7 September 2012