Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday met Reliance Infocomm chief Anil Ambani and discussed cooperation between the two companies on next-generation Internet Protocol (IP)-based television services in India.
"I had a chance to meet Anil Ambani today. We will now help them in rolling out broadband services. He has a strategy in place and we will play a key role in helping them," Gates said after the meeting.
Reliance Infocomm had signed an agreement with Microsoft in October 2003 for rolling out IPTV in India. "We are putting renewed energy into the (IPTV) tie-up," Gates said.
IPTV has been successful in the United States and Microsoft is doing something of this type in a developing nation for the first time, he said, adding that a clear picture would emerge next year.
Reliance Infocomm and Microsoft had agreed three years ago to work together to jointly create, test and deliver IPTV services based on an IPTV solution being developed by Microsoft TV.
The technology will enable Reliance Infocomm to leverage its nationwide high-speed infrastructure to deliver a unique set of television services. The solution would enable web surfing, e-mailing, online gaming with multiple players and allow users to access numerous channels over Reliance's broadband network.