Telecommunications operators are competing with cable head-to-head on IP video, but there are still many common misconceptions about IPTV. Cable believes that telcos will not be able to deliver compelling video services, or even a functional one, for that matter. In contrast, telcos claim their version will be better than cable's and that cable is out of bandwidth.

This session will discuss what constitutes an IPTV play and how it is differentiated from the cable offering, including network structure, video transmission, content, and interaction with the home network and devices. The panel will also highlight the importance of operations support systems (OSSs) and other tools in growing and managing on-demand services.

The session will share knowledge from IPTV experts who have deployed full solutions in Europe for Belgacom, Telefonica, and other broadband operators. The panel will discuss the deployment of IPTV components and approaches to reducing operational costs and increasing revenues.

Joe Matarese Senior Vice President, Global Advanced Technology C-COR

Dr. Matarese joined C-COR from nCUBE when the company was acquired by C-COR in January 2005. He was formerly chief technology officer of nCUBE, where he was responsible for developing and executing technical strategy. He also worked closely with customers and partners to identify key enabling technologies and was a frequent industry presenter articulating the value of nCUBE's products and solutions. Dr. Matarese joined nCUBE in 1995 as a field service engineer and soon became involved in software development and product management activities to support nCUBE's focus on video on demand (VoD). Such activities included work on early IP-based VoD systems using switched Ethernet transport and in-flight VoD systems using quadrature amplitude modulation transport. Most recently, Dr. Matarese had acted as lead architect for nCUBE's numerous deployments of centralized cable VoD systems with switched Gigabit Ethernet transport.

Steve Oetegenn Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing Verimatrix

Mr. Oetegenn's career in the IT industry spans 25 years. He has a wide range of experience in international business, having launched numerous high-tech products to the global marketplace. He began his career with Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) as a specialist for Optical Character Recognition Systems. He has specialized in digital security and anti-piracy since 1998, working with government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and major Hollywood studios. Prior to joining Verimatrix, he was chief operating officer of MediaSec Technologies LLC, a pioneer and leader in digital watermarking; chief operating officer of Argus Systems Group, a leading provider of Internet server security software; and chief executive officer of DCE Communication Ltd., a worldwide provider of business messaging systems.

Ryan Petty Vice President, Product Management Myrio Corp. - A Siemens Company

Mr. Petty joined Siemens in April 2005 as a part of Siemens' acquisition of Myrio. He is responsible for product line management and product strategy for Siemens Home Entertainment Solutions. Prior to the acquisition of Myrio by Siemens, he was one of the founding engineers and architects of the Myrio IPTV solution. Mr. Petty has been involved in all system design and engineering solutions for Myrio. As the primary interface between Myrio and external IP video industry consortiums, he widely promoted open standards for network technologies applicable to broadband IP video delivery. As a member of the FS-VDSL Focus Group (a subcommittee of the ITU-T Study Group 16), Mr. Petty collaborated with the world's leading broadband service providers and equipment suppliers to define a standard for deploying triple-play service bundles on broadband access networks.

Jorge Ruano IPTV Development Centre Director Lucent Technologies

Mr. Ruano recently joined Lucent Technologies as a result of transference of Imagenio technology to this company. From 2000 to 2005, he was in charge of the technology of multimedia services for all the Telefónica group companies, with special emphasis on the Imagenio project. From 1994 to 2000, he worked for Telefónica I&D after gaining experience at other telecommunications companies. He has been involved in the development of TV platforms, first over satellite and cable and then, from 2000, using DSL lines. He also has published more than 10 technical magazine articles.