Companies which provide IPTV services joined forces to set a single global standard, so that all systems would work together, a Reuters report said.
The Reuters report said the Open IPTV Forum is backed by companies including Ericsson, Matsushita's Panasonic, Philips , Samsung Electronics , Siemens, Sony, AT&T , Telecom Italia and France Telecom .
Not on the starting list are Alcatel-Lucent and Microsoft, the market leaders and alliance partners in IPTV networks and software, the Reuters report said.
Film makers and TV production companies were not on the list either, but the forum said everyone could join, the report said.
The nine founding companies said they want results fast and will hammer out technology requirements by September and a first set of technology specifications by year-end, the report said.
If all IPTV systems work together flawlessly it should be easier and cheaper for consumers to buy and use IPTV systems and services, such set-top boxes and TV and video programs, the report said.
The forum will embrace existing standards that address part of the interoperability challenge, the report said.
It said it supported the work of IP multimedia subsystem for unified Internet service delivery and the Digital Living Network Alliance which aims to make it easy for consumers to use their digital music, films and other content across their home or private network, the report further said.