Tandberg Television is working closely with Siemens to provide the MPEG-4 AVC video compression that isenabling the deployment of IPTV for Shanghai Telecom and the Shanghai Media Group.

The Shanghai partnership was the first operation in China to secure an IPTV license and has been testing its new digital television service since the summer of 2004.

The full service was launched last month to an audience over 100% higher than the anticipated subscriber base in Shanghai's up-market Pudong district and demand has now already exceeded the end of year forecast. The service is delivering over 50 channels of content from providers such as CCTV and Shanghai Media Group.

Tandberg Television's video systems are designed to enable IPTV offerings to compete effectively with existing cable and satellite TV services and to add new revenue streams, through on-demand services and interactivity. The solution for Shanghai Telecom consists of a TANDBERG Television standard definition MPEG-4 AVC head-end which provides significant bandwidth savings of up to 50% on MPEG-2, and enables superior picture and sound quality.