So far, Siemens is the only company that has come close to matching Microsoft's offering. Siemens competes head-to-head with Microsoft's infrastructure partner Alcatel. Through the acquisition of Myrio, Siemens now has the brains of its IPTV solution, said Susan Schramm, senior vice president of carrier markets for Siemens. And with this piece of the IPTV equation in its portfolio, the company has firmly planted its foot in the market.
Unlike Microsoft, Siemens doesn't yet have all the software pieces in place. While Myrio gave it the 'brains' of its solution, it is still missing some parts. For example, Myrio provides subscriber and content management software and software for the set-top boxes. But Siemens is missing software that can get content from either satellite or archived sources into an on-demand format.
So far, the largest carriers in the U.S. seem to be more interested in the all-in-one solution from Microsoft. Three of the four Bells -- SBC, Verizon and BellSouth -- have committed to testing Microsoft's IPTV solution.
Analysts say Siemens might have a better chance of winning deals in Europe and Asia and among rural carriers in the United States. Even before Siemens acquired Myrio, the two companies worked with each other to deploy an IPTV solution for Belgacom, Belgium's main telephone company. The service serves nearly 1 million subscribers.
"Breaking into big North American carriers is going to be difficult for Siemens," Kishore said. "But there are a whole host of phone companies that are smaller, and an increasing number of them are deploying Myrio. Siemens is well positioned in that market."
Myrio already has about 70 customers that are either testing or have deployed its IPTV solution. Most of them have been small, rural telephone companies, such as MBO. The company, which serves about 13,000 customers in four states, has been using the Myrio IPTV package since 2002. Compared with SBC's planned IPTV network, which could serve 18 million customers, MBO's installation is tiny -- only 300 residential subscribers and 25,000 subscribers through wholesale agreements.
The Yankee Group's Kishore said Siemens could make a good business out of catering to smaller service providers. The company says it is going after bigger fish, too.
"We have a long history in telecom," Schramm said. "And we understand how to make a (network) work."
