Euronews: MSFT Linked to Telefonica IPTV Deal

Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) are the star names in today's look at the news from the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

Telefónica is set to use Microsoft's Mediaroom platform for the management and delivery of its IPTV service, according to a report from ADSLzone.tv (in Spanish). The Iberian giant has one of the most mature IPTV services in the world and has, to date, used an in-house IPTV middleware system called Imagenio, which has been maintained by Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) for the past few years. Telefónica, which ended September 2011 with 804,000 IPTV customers in Spain, is already working closely with Microsoft on its mobile applications development strategy. (See The Other Microsoft, Microsoft Gives Telefónica an Apps Edge and Alcatel-Lucent Updates on IPTV.)

French business services provider Neo Telecoms has bought the MIT Group, which operates a network in the south of the country. Neo says the acquisition is part of the €10 million (US$12.8 million) investment it is making in southern France.

British small cell microwave backhaul specialist Cambridge Communication Systems Ltd. has raised more than £1 million ($1.55 million) for further development of its product. (See More Startups Target Small-Cell Backhaul .)

Saudi operator Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) is deploying OLT equipment from Zhone Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ZHNE) for its fiber access broadband network rollout. (See Mobily Does FTTH With Zhone.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading