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The suite of services and applications comprised within the concept of IPTV is quite broad and globally varies according to the operators' network capacity and the solutions offered by vendors.

As the name of the service refers to, the main application is the distribution of digital television signal over the IP network. It is enhanced by characteristics inherent to a broad-band connection. Typical service enhancements enabled are on-screen programming information, channel selection and navigation. The two-way communication capability given by a broad-band connection allows for true interactivity between the subscriber and the network, while the point-to-point connectivity makes possible for each viewer to watch individual broadcasting, such as video on demand.

Interactive services may include gaming, on-screen prompts related to other programs matching the viewer's behavior, accessing on-line content complementary to the program watched, and so forth.

TV-centric telephony and communications related services are being proposed, which include: -