Startup AccessKey IP claims to have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to help develop an advanced IPTV set-top box with a company it would identify only as “a significant U.S.-based organization in the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) sector.”

The vendor has designed what it calls a set-top that others might consider more akin to a gateway box.

AccessKey IP’s unidentified customer will contribute $1.5 million in development funding.

AccessKey IP plans to complete development and begin initial deliveries of the STB technology in early 2008, according to company President Rich Lauer.

George Stevens, chairman and CEO of AccessKey IP, said, “While AccessKey IP obviously doesn’t have the market presence of industry giants like Motorola or Cisco, we are actually more capable of delivering highly engineered, high value-add solutions for specific customer requirements. In reality, the IPTV market is so large even a small piece can make our firm enormously successful.”