Following several months of successful testing in a thousand Belgian households, network operator Belgacom says that it is pointing the way to the future of television with interactive, digital television via Internet protocol (IP).

All that is needed is a DSL connection and a conventional television, linked together by a set-top box that converts digital data into perfect television signals, the company says.

Siemens is offering a complete service for Internet television, aiming to provide the network operator with everything from the server technology and user software to data encryption, devices for the reception of satellite data and the set for the consumer -- all from a single source.

For viewers, operating the menu and using the set-top boxes is a simple and user-friendly operation, the company says.

Belgacom is also offering an exciting and exclusive attraction -- transmission of Belgian and Italian league soccer games.

If a game is missed, the set-top box digitally stores a recording that can be viewed later. Belgacom customers can also enjoy video telephone calls via their television; download their favorite films from the Internet; surf the Web; e-mail and chat.

A Dutch provider, KPN, has also selected Siemens to be its partner in a contract beginning in October 2005.

Siemens plans to further minimize the bandwidths needed for transmission by the end of the year, which will ensure reception of live TV broadcasts at 1.8M bps -- about the same as the average rate of today"s DSL standard.

The factors that will make this possible include the new MPEG-4 video data compression, which aim to dramatically reduce the technical requirements for the consumer, while making digital television almost universally available.