Microsoft is growing its technology ecosystem of partners for Mediaroom with the addition of three new companies. At NXTcomm08, the Redmond company announced that HP, Tech Mahindra and 180Squared are the new Mediaroom system integration partners, joining Alcatel-Lucent. All three additions had to pass a training and market-readiness program tailored to the Microsoft Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform. Now, HP, Tech Mahindra and 180Squared are capable of delivering deployment services to all Mediaroom users.

"Alcatel-Lucent and Microsoft commenced a strategic reseller and systems integration relationship to accelerate the worldwide availability of IPTV, and this successful relationship remains in place," said Christine Heckart, general manager of marketing for Microsoft Mediaroom.

The latest move from the software giant is designed to build a comprehensive ecosystem of deployment services orbiting around Mediaroom. Microsoft is essentially putting together a network of partners spanning across four continents with its IPTV and multimedia platform at the center.

"We are pleased to further enhance the Mediaroom technology ecosystem with the addition of deployment service companies HP, Tech Mahindra and 180Squared to support service providers scaling their differentiated connected TV services. Alcatel-Lucent has partnered with Microsoft on our largest Mediaroom IPTV deployments and remains our only end-to-end IPTV system integrator," Heckart added.

Microsoft revealed that the expansion of the deployment services companies ecosystem comes to keep the pace with the natural evolution of the IPTV market. The company informed that the number of Mediaroom subscribers passed the 1 million milestone as of the first quarter of 2008. At this point in time, over two million television sets around the world are connected to Mediaroom via various broadband IPTV operators. The new systems integration partners will work closely with these vendors in order to ensure the streamlined deployment of Mediaroom offerings.