[Satellite Today 04-15-09] In the last six months, more than 35 new IPTV operations began trials or deployment, as several major companies attempt to gain leadership status in the sector, according to a report released April 13 by The Multimedia Research Group (MRG).
    The report, “Global Market IPTV Market Leaders Report – March 2009,” calls Microsoft’s attempt to position itself as a leader in the middleware and content protection parts of the IPTV market a “significant” development. MRG ranks Microsoft as the largest video-on-demand (VoD) software provider and the second largest middleware and content protection provider.
    The IPTV set-top box market is seeing fierce competition, with the top eight suppliers each having more than 1 million subscribers, the report said. Out of these eight suppliers, MRG said Motorola and Amino are “beginning to pull ahead” of the competition.