Singapore – The IPTV World Forum Asia 2007, held Dec. 5-7 in Singapore, saw Cisco announce its strategy for the delivery of end-to-end Internet Protocol television (IPTV) solutions in Asia Pacific. “Cisco is perhaps the only technology vendor today who can provide the products, solutions, applications and expertise to help operators deliver a ‘Connected Life’ experience for consumers. We’ve brought that capability to Asia Pacific and have started to engage with several providers around the region,” said Peter Papaioannou, Operations Director, Video and Cable Solutions Group, Asia Pacific, Cisco. Papaioannou told Television Asia that only a couple of deals, including one with HanaroTelecom, have been announced in the region thus far. “Many service providers are choosing to keep their deployment of enhanced solutions close to their chests,” he said, adding that significant announcements could be expected from China and India in 2008. Looking at growth opportunities in the region, he said cable operators moving from analogue to digital offer the most potential; followed by telcos venturing into IPTV; then the deployment of HD and the switch to MPEG4 compression. Cisco’s recent IPTV customers elsewhere in the world include Deutsche Telecom, FastWeb, Free, SES Americom, T-Com Montenegro, T-HT Croatia and Lithuanian provider TEO.