Verizon opts for Microsoft TV technology

Verizon opts for Microsoft TV technology: "Verizon Communications Inc. plans to use Microsoft Corp. technology for its rollout of television service over a new fiber-optic network, becoming the third major telephone company to help fulfill Microsoft's long-stymied bid to barge into the TV business.
The software maker's platform initially will be used to provide an interactive program guide, high-definition television, digital video recording and video-on-demand for Verizon's FiOS TV service, which is due to launch in undisclosed markets around mid-year.
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"The deal with Verizon comes on the heels of a contract from SBC Communications Inc. to use Microsoft's platform to launch that telephone company's TV service and an agreement with BellSouth Corp. to conduct trials with the technology.
By signing up the nation's three biggest local phone companies, Microsoft has taken a sharp detour to achieve in just three months what it failed to accomplish in a decade, bypassing the traditional cable establishment to establish a serious beachhead in the video entertainment industry.
Prior to the deals with the three former Bells, Microsoft's only notable TV success in the United States is a new set-top box and video recorder with its software being offered in Washington state by Comcast Corp., the nation's biggest cable company."

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