Siemens to Sell PacketVideo Technology to Carriers

PacketVideo (www.packetvideo.com) announced on Monday that it had signed a non-exclusive deal with mobile provider Siemens, to resell PacketVideo’s wireless streaming technology. PacketVideo’s wireless multimedia platform will be integrated with Siemens platform in existing and future mobile solutions.

According to Nick Karter, VP of channel development at PacketVideo, Siemens has the right to sell, license and promote PacketVideo’s server technologies to 150 regional carrier companies around the world. He explained that this does not affect PacketVideo’s existing trials with carriers. Already, Siemens has signed up 19 trials with mobile operators.

"We will continue to work with carriers directly," said Kraft. He stressed that PacketVideo’s sales force wasn’t affected and that the two companies were complementary. "We have a good working relationship with their sales force," he explained.

"The value add," said Karter, "is that Siemens acts as the systems integrator, which is their core competency. Carriers are very demanding and require lots of onsite support."

"We expect PacketVideo’s platform to become the key enabling technology of future mobile video applications that will strongly enhance the mobile user’s experience," said Thorsten Heins, president of Solutions for the IC Mobile Group. "We believe that rich media services over wireless will be an explosive growth area for GPRS and UMTS and will be the driving force for mobile commerce, entertainment, and information."

Kraft said that he couldn’t talk specifically about which carriers were testing the MPEG-4 streaming technology or how long full implementation might take.