Belgacom expands IPTV services with Nokia Siemens Networks

250,000 new subscribers receive IPTV in Belgium

HERENTALS, Belgium / ESPOO, Finland — Belgacom TV (Euronext: BELG), the leading Belgian IP television service provider added 250,000 new customers since January 2008, representing an increase of 45 percent over 2007. The company’s success is driven by the implementation of an end-to-end IPTV platform from Nokia Siemens Networks that introduced HDTV (high definition television), VoD (video on demand), PVR (personal video recorder) and interactive services for both new and existing Belgacom TV subscribers.

The figures mean that, in under four years, Belgacom has captured a 30 percent share of Belgium’s digital TV market.

“Nokia Siemens Networks has been our partner since we launched IPTV services, providing us with a resilient, scalable, and fully integrated end-to-end solution that enables us to offer the services we need to effectively compete in the Belgian Market,” said, Scott Alcott, Executive Vice President Service Delivery Engine at Belgacom. “In March 2009, the total number of Belgacom TV users reached 555,000 and Nokia Siemens Networks’ integrated solution helped us to increase our average revenue per user by 7 percent, compared to 2007.”

Nokia Siemens Networks IPTV platform provides an intuitive user interface with advanced features. In addition to this base client platform, Belgacom also uses Nokia Siemens Networks’ Infopages feature to differentiate its content by creating unique, web-like, interactive applications including an easy access VoD catalogue, online shopping and instant voting.

Nokia Siemens Networks has also integrated Cisco Systems’s HD IPTV set-tops to support entertainment experience-enhancing features like HDTV, PVR (personal video recorder) and video on demand (VoD) services at the end-user premises. Cisco global shipments of HD IPTV set-tops have reached over 3 million units to date.

“We apply the expertise gained from over ten years of IPTV innovation to not only help Belgacom offer its customers an exciting new way of experiencing television, but also to tap into new sources of revenue,” said Bart Bosmans, Global Head Media & Entertainment at Nokia Siemens Networks. “We design IPTV platforms to be scalable and operationally efficient, minimizing the strain on network infrastructure and lowering operational costs. Our continued focus on this approach allows Belgacom to offer a more profitable IPTV service.”

Nokia Siemens Networks has also provided Belgacom with software maintenance services, a key element of high quality network operations given the large amount of software used in such networks and their increasing complexity.