China Telecom has officially launched its tender for procurement of IPTV set-top boxes on August 4, according to Marbridge Consulting. Sixteen firms are reported to be competing for the supply contract: ZTE, UTStarcom, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, New Postcom, Sunniwell, 30Kaitian, Yuxing Infotech, Coship Electronics, Changhong, Motorola, Sichuan Jiuzhou Electric Group, Shanghai DareGlobal Info Tech, Konka Group, Fiberhome and Thomson. According to the reports, all sixteen firms offer product models that have been inspected and approved by the Shanghai Telecom Research Institute, and which comply with China Telecom’s IPTV V2.0 technology standard. Winning bidders will become the telco’s IPTV terminal partners, and establish contracts with each provincial partner according to the province’s purchasing requirements. In accordance with China Telecom’s rules, the top five companies will collectively receive no less than 80% of total purchasing volume.