Looky here..Microsoft, Verizon, in TV Deal
Fri Jan 28, 7:21 PM ET Technology - Reuters
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc. will use Microsoft Corp.'s software technology to deliver video services over high-speed data lines, the companies said on Friday.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, also has similar deals with SBC Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. and is trying to spread the adoption of its software beyond Windows into devices for the living room.
Verizon, the largest U.S. telecommunications company, said that it would use Microsoft's software to offer high-definition television, digital video recording and on-demand programming to its customers.
Verizon will offer the technology on its new fiber-optic network service, called "FiOS," which is due to launch later this year promising faster Internet and networks speeds along with richer content.
The deal marks another win for Microsoft, which has been trying to get its software widely deployed in the television and cable industries for years with little success, despite billions invested in cable companies during the 1990s.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In November, Microsoft announced a 10-year, $400 million deal with SBC, the second-largest U.S. telecommunications company, to deliver video services over data lines.
Earlier in November, Comcast agreed, the largest U.S. cable operator, said it would deploy video recorder set-top boxes built with Microsoft software to about 1 million Comcast subscribers in Washington state.
Microsoft has been trying for years to move its software beyond the office and into living rooms and people's pockets.
Moshe Lichtman, corporate vice president of Microsoft's TV division, said in a statement that the deal demonstrated that service providers are "choosing Microsoft TV as the software platform for their digital TV and digital home services."
Microsoft's software will run on set-top boxes made by Motorola Inc. for Verizon, the companies said in a statement
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