UTStarcom (UTSI) has signed a follow-on contract to deploy its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution to China Telecom (CHA), the largest fixed-line telecom operator in China.

The commercial IPTV network is initially designed to support 51,000 users in Shanghai. The number of broadband users in Shanghai continues to grow at a rapid rate approaching two million subscribers at the end of first quarter of 2006.

Partnering with Shanghai Media Group (SMG), a leading multimedia television content provider, China Telecom Shanghai plans to offer subscribers a service package of live broadcast television and videos-on-demand. Additionally, the service is designed to offer subscribers "time-shift" capabilities — the ability to pause and rewind live television, as well as an expansive amount of storage to record any program and watch on each subscriber's own schedule.

"We believe the opportunity to deploy a commercial IPTV network with China Telecom for a large number of additional subscribers in Shanghai will lay a solid foundation for UTStarcom's future market development of IPTV in China," said Ying Wu, chairman and CEO of UTStarcom China. "We believe that RollingStream is the best-in-class IPTV solution in the market. It is a mature, IP-based platform that is designed to provide carrier-class, end-to- end triple-play services to carriers worldwide."

Prior to this deployment, China Telecom Shanghai selected UTStarcom to deploy an initial 5,000-user IPTV network in November 2005. During the first stage of deployment, UTStarcom's RollingStream solution was put through a rigorous series of technology tests.

UTStarcom says the number of broadband users in Shanghai approached two million at the end of first quarter of 2006.