ITV

Tag: IPTV

  • IPTV revenues to touch $512 million in 2007: Frost & Sullivan

    IPTV revenues to touch $512 million in 2007: Frost & Sullivan

    MUMBAI: Dwindling wireline revenues, consumer demand for greater control over viewing preferences, and the explosion of broadband in various high growth markets across Asia-Pacific represent the impetus for the development of IPTV in the region.

    While service providers across Asia-Pacific have invested heavily in the network infrastructure required to offer such services, the key success factor for IPTV lies in the gamut of content that service providers are able to provide consumers.

    New analysis from global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific IPTV Market, reveals that revenues in this market – covering 12 major Asia-Pacific countries ex-Japan – is estimated to increase from $353.4 million in 2006 to $512.4 million next year. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 37.5 per cent (2006-2013), the region’s IPTV market is forecasted to be worth $3.3 billion by end-2013.

    Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Aravind Venkatesh says, “IPTV is the next notable wave in the consumer telecom space and service providers are planning to leverage this new technology to offer high quality interactive services to customers. While revenues from fixed-line services continue to decline, IPTV is likely to reduce churn, increase ARPU (average revenue per user) levels, and generate revenue streams in the long term.”

    IPTV is presently available in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, and is expected to be introduced in India and the Philippines in 2007. Countries like China, India and Australia are expected to be high growth markets by 2009.

    China, in particular, holds immense potential as it has the largest broadband subscriber base in Asia-Pacific. Residential subscribers constitute approximately 70 per cent of China’s 47.8 million broadband subscriber base. China together with Hong Kong, which is said to be one of the most sophisticated IPTV markets in the world, is expected to account for nearly 60 percent of the region’s IPTV revenues by end-2013.

    While initial response from end users has been positive, service providers face the challenge of procuring quality and regional content, most of which is exclusively offered by cable and satellite operators. The lack of quality content is a common problem for service providers across the region. Although partnerships with content providers and broadcasting companies aid in securing access rights, cable TV providers or IPTV market leaders already have exclusive access to the content.

    Venkatesh adds, “The lack of sufficient bandwidth and highly skewed broadband distribution are major inhibitors for the growth of IPTV in Asia-Pacific. While Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Japan are mature markets for broadband, developing markets like China, India and Malaysia have dismally low broadband penetration.”

    The lack of bandwidth in developing markets requires the implementation of high compression codecs and watermarking technologies to achieve the expected quality of service (QoS) levels. This may however be only a short-term solution. Service providers should scale their networks rapidly to offer bandwidth-hungry applications to consumers.

  • Times Broadband ready with content delivery network for IPTV

    Times Broadband ready with content delivery network for IPTV

    NEW DELHI: Times Broadband Services Pvt Ltd (TBSPL) has expressed its preparedness with a content delivery network for IPTV which it wants to offer to telecom and cable TV operators.

    “We are ready with 100 TV channels and have set up an agnostic platform,” said Times Broadband CEO Sujata Dev.

    TBSPL had tied up with MTNL to offer IPTV on the telecom major’s network. Now it is also looking at going with other telecom operators as well.

    The company expects 500 channels would come on board their platform for IPTV. TBSPL has already signed up with a few content providers which includes Time Media, IMI, Film and Television Producers’ Guild, Globecast and Star TV. “I cannot disclose the names of many others because IPTV would need a little more clarity as far as regulations are concerned and that would decide on the tariff of pay channels,” Dev said.

    Many broadcasters are hesitant to sign in as content providers because they are uncertain whether the service would be controlled by the Cas rules or treated under telecom or IT rules.

    “IPTV is a value-added service for a telecom operator and we hope that it would be dictated by telecom laws and regulations,” Dev said.

    The formal launch was done by minister of state for urban development and poverty alleviation, Ajay Maken, who declared this (IPTV technology) as an unthinkable revolution.

    Dev in her presentation said that TBSPL would aggregate content from multiple sources and provide the content delivery platform to telecom operators. The company has partners in Hewlett Packard, Optibase, Verimatrix, Kassena and Amino.

    Dev said that at the moment TBSPL is offering 100 TV channels, FTA, and list of pay channels as second tier; 10 feature films through video on demand with fast forward, rewind and pause features; 10 hours of music cutting across genres; 10 hours of interactive games, 10 hours of browsing and 100 TV-to-TV SMS. Later, there would come premium offerings, which will include video telephony on TV with plug-in camera; T-Banking, T-information; T-time shift TV, etc.

    The operation is intended as a conduit between the telecom operators and content producers and providers in the convergence space “In convergence technology there is always some discrepancy against one of the players, and this is where we play the role of the conduit,” Dev said.

  • IPTV touches 2.95 mn subscribers: Point Topic study

    IPTV touches 2.95 mn subscribers: Point Topic study

    MUMBAI: Research firm Point Topic has come out with a report on the growth of IPTV.

    The report states that Global IPTV subscribers reached 2.95 million as of 30 June 2006, up two-fold from 1.47 million a year earlier.

    Hong Kong’s PCCW is the largest IPTV operator worldwide with 444,000 paying IPTV subscribers, followed by France Telecom with over 300,000 and Spain’s Telefonica with 267,000 paying IPTV subscribers.

    Europe is the most important region for IPTV, displaying the strongest growth in subscriber numbers during that time-frame.

    The Asia-Pacific region had 987,000 IPTV subscribers at end-June, versus 612,000 a year earlier; Europe had 1.51 million, up from 521,000; and the Americas had 409,000, up from 267,000.

    Point-Topic’s research shows that the picture of IPTV development worldwide remains a complex one. The success of an operator in executing an IPTV strategy depends on many things. The most important are

    – the local competitive environment, in the form of cable and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operators

    – the local regulatory environment. In some cases, the regulator will not permit telcos to enter the TV market, in other cases telcos are allowed to carry TV over fibre but not copper, and in other cases there are no restrictions

    – the type and condition of the network. Operators with a largely fibre network, such as FastWeb and PCCW, were able to deploy IPTV early. Operators with unsuitable copper networks, especially in the US, are building fibre to enable services such as IPTV.

  • Alcatel-Lucent supports SingTel’s IPTV technical trial

    Alcatel-Lucent supports SingTel’s IPTV technical trial

    MUMBAI: Alcatel-Lucent has announced that it has been selected by Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), Southeast Asia’s largest telecom operator, for its Internet protocol television (IPTV) trial, which began in October 2006.

    Based on a combination of Alcatel-Lucent’s services integration solution and Microsoft TV® IPTV Edition software platform, the project will include broadcast TV and video on demand (VoD), with content featuring high definition (HD)-quality picture resolution.

    Alcatel-Lucent will provide SingTel with an end-to-end IPTV solution and will use the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform to offer an enhanced user experience, enabling user-friendly features like instant channel change, multiple picture-in-picture and personal video recorder (PVR) functionality (such as one-touch recording and pausing live TV). Alcatel-Lucent will also provide a complete services integration solution that brings together the network infrastructure, software platforms and integration skill sets required to deliver a superior user experience.

    Alcatel-Lucent is working closely with SingTel to develop an array of useful applications, including audio support in different languages, music-on-demand, karaoke-on-demand, customer self-service (allowing users to subscribe to new services and make account modifications) and bill viewing.

    Alcatel-Lucent’s solution also includes HP ProLiant servers and video headend systems from Harmonic. SingTel is using Harmonic’s HD and SD real-time MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) DiviCom Electra video encoders, CLEARcut™ offline storage encoding solution and NMX Digital Service Manager™.

    SingTel director of IPTV and content Low Ka Hoe says, “We are very excited about the launch of our IPTV technical trial. SingTel is confident that Alcatel-Lucent’s telecom expertise and experience in deploying end-to-end IPTV networks and integrating the Harmonic and Microsoft solution, will go far in ensuring the success of this trial.”

    Alcatel-Lucent Asia Pacific head Frederic Rose says, “Offering an advanced IPTV solution ensures that SingTel will continue to lead the way as one of Asia-Pacific’s most innovative operators. Alcatel-Lucent and SingTel are also working together on other value-added applications that will allow consumers to enjoy a better TV experience.”

    In June 2006, SingTel selected Alcatel-Lucent for the first ever Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) trial in the Asia Pacific region and the first residential Metro Ethernet trial in Singapore.

    Alcatel-Lucent provides purpose-built technology solutions and services integration that allow carriers to reduce the cost and complexity associated with large scale deployments. Alcatel-Lucent is involved in more than 40 major triple play deployments and more than 40 network transformation projects worldwide.

  • BT, Microsoft & Philips join hands to unveil BT Vision in UK

    BT, Microsoft & Philips join hands to unveil BT Vision in UK

     MUMBAI: BT has announced the commercial launch of BT Vision, its new television and entertainment service. BT Vision uses the Microsoft TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform and an advanced Philips set-top box to deliver a next-generation digital television service to BT Total Broadband customers across the UK.

    BT Vision combines more than 40 DTT (digital terrestrial television )-based freeview channels, digital recording capability and a library of video-on-demand content delivered over broadband. This gives viewers more choice without the need to commit to a compulsory monthly TV subscription.

    An official release stated that BT, Microsoft Corp and Philips worked closely together to bring the full experience of BT Vision to the home. The Philips-designed set-top box offers advanced technology, including 80 hours of hard disk recording capability, two tuners, smart card reader, high-definition TV and numerous extension capabilities. The set-top box enables viewers to “time shift” programmes at their convenience, pausing live shows or recording them to watch at a later date. In addition, a “catch-up TV” feature gives viewers the convenience of viewing TV programmes they may have missed from the previous week.

    “BT Vision is a ground-breaking television service, giving consumers choice and flexibility without requiring them to be tied to a monthly TV contract,” said BT Vision chief executive Dan Marks. “Microsoft TV has given BT the power to build a service that we feel addresses a real market opportunity, enabling our customers to switch on to better TV.”

    BT Vision offers a variety of content combined with advanced television services. Further highlights include the following:
    – Varied content from Disney, Sony BMG, Universal, DreamWorks, National Geographic, Viacom and the BBC as well as independent programmers.
    – “Near-live” on-demand Premiership football action, starting in summer 2007.
    — Interactive services such as games.
    — Access to the phone book via the television.

    “BT Vision is a revolution for TV services in the UK. BT’s pioneering approach and Microsoft’s next-generation IPTV technologies have enabled a unique TV service that lets consumers control their TV experience,” said Microsoft’s TV division corporate vice president Enrique Rodriguez. “BT’s trusted brand is well-placed to bring exciting connected and personal television experiences to a wide range of consumers in the UK.”

    The announcement is the latest in a wave of European IPTV deployments based on the Microsoft TV software platform and heralds a new era of more compelling personal and connected TV experiences available to consumers.

  • ‘Fall in STB prices make digitisation affordable in low ARPU countries.’ : Dr. Abe Peled – NDS chairman & CEO

    ‘Fall in STB prices make digitisation affordable in low ARPU countries.’ : Dr. Abe Peled – NDS chairman & CEO

    With conditional access system (Cas) coming in next year and DTH already in, the time is right for television technology firms to take a serious look at India. One such firm is NDS, which provides technology solutions for digital pay-TV. It has opened a dedicated sales and support operation in Mumbai. Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto caught up with NDS chairman and CEO Dr. Abe Peled for a lowdown on the company’s plans and the emerging digital age.

     

    Excerpts:

    For NDS, DTH is a high revenue earner. How is the company gearing up to new delivery technologies, particularly at a time when investments are coming into IPTV and growth in DTH subscribers is slowing?

    The market for satellite is getting competitive and complex because of triple play. We have 70 per cent of our revenues coming from DTH. We expect our growth in this area to stay strong as DTH service providers are going in for advanced technologies. We will benefit not primarily from subscriber growth but because of penetration of new technologies. We, for instance, have shipped 4.2 million digital video recorders (DVRs) and there is a scope for explosion in this segment as prices drop. But we realise that IPTV is also offering opportunity and have 14 different contracts including Yahoo in Japan which has 200,000 subscribers.

     

    You have just acquired for $107.5 million Jungo Ltd. which is a leading provider of software for residential gateways. Will this help you penetrate the broadband television market?

    It will definitely help us better serve the telecom network operators to offer reliable video over broadband services. We are looking at acquisitions in the IPTV and mobile space even as pay-TV operators are looking at different delivery platforms.

     

    With Cas coming in next year and DTH already present, how is NDS tapping the growing opportunity in India?

    We actually started selling our products in India three years back with Hathway Cable & Datacom. The reason why DTH and Cas are coming in now is that the technology is sufficiently inexpensive to be able to be used even in countries where subscriber revenue is a few dollars each month. The first set-top box (STB) launched by DirecTV in the US cost $700. But now the cost of the STB is below $50. Also, the cost of digital compression has fallen. All this makes digitisation affordable in countries which have low ARPUs (average revenue per user). China and India are key growth markets for us.

    NDS is seen as a high-cost encryption system. Do you have a pricing strategy for the low ARPU countries like India?

    We have a product called VideoGuard which addresses this issue. There is a myth spread by our competitors that we are not affordable. We are very competitive and cable operators will have to take a long term view. It is not the Cas mandate that they have to service but also look at interactive features. Besides, we see a consolidation take place in the cable TV industry here.

     

    DTH has grown wherever there has been premium content. How do you see the Indian DTH market evolve?

    I have a word of caution. While we would like to supply technology to lots of people, the experience is that in satellite very few places have room for more than one player; it is just not cost effective. In France, the two operators merged this year. The US has two operators as it is a large country. So maybe India will follow the US. But surely there can’t be space for so many players who have expressed their intent to join the fray. Exclusive content is also not allowed and the sectoral cap on DTH of 20 per cent stake by broadcasters can seriously hamper big capital coming into the business. But Tata Sky is off to a good start. And with DVR prices falling, we see it as an incentive to push digitisation.

     

    Are you in talks with the major telcos like Reliance Infocomm for IPTV?

    We are looking at expanding business in India and are in talks with several companies. But I can’t give any specific details. We have opened office in Mumbai specifically for this purpose.

     

    Are you also ramping up the research and development facility in Bangalore?

    We have almost 600 people in our Bangalore lab and are still hiring. We have just moved into our new office premises which can house double the capacity we are operating in now. Bangalore is a key part of our research and development operations. The EPG (electronic programme guide) was developed out of here and the middleware was adapted for our two clients, Tata Sky and Hathway, in India.

    What are the challenges that lie ahead for NDS?

    As the media landscape changes, pay TV operators are facing more competition. There are new modes of delivering and distributing content that perhaps bypass traditional avenues. Our challenge is firstly to help our pay TV customers embrace new technologies and broaden the entertainment experience that they offer. At the same time, we want to work with telecom firms or people who want to distribute content directly to the PC or are keen to get into triple services play. We will be an enabler in this changing, fluid media landscape.

     

    How has NDS been able to quickly identify consumer tastes and preferences with evolving technology?

    While consumers are not our direct customers, our success critically depends on them enjoying the entertainment experience. For example, in the early days of interactive television the first instinct was to say that we will allow consumers the technology to access the web to view television. We did not do that, as we understood that is not the case. We, instead, moved towards enhancing the television experience, which means interactive sports and other programmes. Companies came to us wanting to sell stuff through interactive TV. MTV wanted to sell music CDs. But we learned quickly that there isn’t a good enough business model to do that. The margins are not enough after you account for all the costs. We focussed on things that allowed channels to increase their viewership share like interactive quizzing. This way they could hike their ad rates. One of the key lessons was that T-commerce does not really work. We are working with Nickelodeon in the UK for games that you can overlay onto the programme.

     

    There is something called Pie in the face. So if you score enough points you can throw pie on an actors face. These things enhance the television experience.

    Is there a resistance from consumers for digital TV?

    The only resistance from the consumer is the price. They appreciate what the DVR and EPG have done. Price is determined by two factors. One is the absolute cost of the technology, which is coming down. Second is the business model of the operator. Will they bundle the cost into subscription and spread it out over several years or expect consumers to pay upfront? That is what dictates the rate of adoption. If the payment asked for upfront is modest, the adoption is quite quick. If the upfront is higher, the adoption is slower.

    What are the key markets for NDS in terms of revenue?

    The US accounts for 35 per cent of our revenues while 20 per cent comes from the UK. Asia is about 11 per cent. Our hope is that in five years time Asia will contribute at least 20 per cent. Last year in China, one million STBs with our technology were deployed in Shenzhen. This year we expect three million deployments.
    ‘Market for DTH service providers is getting competitive & complex because of triple play‘

    Has China been a more difficult market to penetrate vis-a-vis the rest of Asia as you need to show demonstrable commitment and the fact that the Chinese government takes a personal interest in how TV technology develops?

    The Chinese government takes an active interest in content. I don’t think that it takes a greater interest in technology than governments in other countries. We have a small development lab in Beijing as we are committed to it. The challenge is that there is no premium content that an operator can offer. So digitilisation is a result of government initiatives rather than a demand from consumers for getting more premium content. NDS has contracts with the larger Chinese provinces.

    How is NDS coping in the face of competitors like Kudelski and Irdeto?

    In terms of scale, NDS has 66.6 million STBs deployed worldwide. Irdeto has two to three million. Kudelski, a Swiss firm, is our main rival but we are ahead. The fact that we have so many deployments gives us the scale to invest in research and development. That enables our technologies to be more sophisticated and secure.

     

    Secondly NDS has a much broader offering for pay TV operators. While conditional access is necessary, you have other technologies like interactivity and games. None of our competitors have this broad range of technological capabilities. It is not just about providing Cas but also about providing an enhanced experience. We are at much better place to do that vis-avis our competitors. Our competitors can offer price but we are competitive there as well.

    NDS recently was ranked as the top research and development investor among all UK-based software companies. Could you talk about your R&D centers and their importance?

    We believe in being a leader in television technology. We spend over 30 per cent of our revenues on research and development. We have centres in Israel, UK, Bangalore, France, Korea, US etc.

    Is NDS also working in the mobile sphere which allows for content viewing anytime, place?

    We have a DVB H system that we are doing trials with. Korea is the most advanced country in terms of mobile deployment. We are doing a trial there with WiFi Hotspots. If you go into that Wi Fi it will pick up different channels that you can watch by streaming.

    Finally what are the major changes you see in the digital television landscape five years from now in India and Asia?

    A large percentage of homes will have a box. It will offer interactive TV. A percentage of that will be DVR I would hope at least eight per cent. A similar percentage will have broadband capabilities. I am not sure about the potential of High Definition. It will be a small percentage.
  • Buena Vista intl TV inks Vod, IPTV deal with Anytime

    Buena Vista intl TV inks Vod, IPTV deal with Anytime

    SINGAPORE: Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP), the international television distribution arm of US media conglomerate Disney has concluded a multi-year movie video-on-demand (VOD) IPTV agreement with Asia Pacific’s leading Video on-Demand Channel Anytime.

    This agreement will make available a range of current and library features on the Anytime channel in Australia through TransACT and Regional Internet Australia (RIA), Buddy Broadband in Thailand and TDMC in Taiwan. This agreement is in line with Disney’s focus on the application of technology to enhance its content and expand its distribution to deliver anytime, anywhere.

    Through this agreement, IPTV customers in Australia, Taiwan and Thailand will be able to enjoy a films from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax. Titles include Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Cinderella Man, Eight Below and Flightplan. The selection also includes the thriller Face/Off and family comedies Herbie: Fully Loaded and Freaky Friday.

    The agreement also includes provisions for cooperation against piracy of BVITV’s content, while at the same time safeguarding the privacy of end users and remaining consistent with local law and industry practice.

    BVITV-AP senior VP, MD Steve Macallister says, “We are very pleased to have concluded this pan-regional VOD deal with Anytime to offer our top movie titles ‘on-demand’ to IPTV subscribers across the region. As flexibility and choice of viewing become increasingly important, our focus will continue to be on finding innovative and convenient ways for consumers to access our content.”

    Anytime president and CEO Craig Zimbulis said, “We are delighted to be able to add BVITV to existing Anytime deployments. The appeal of BVITV content is indisputable and its inclusion for us greatly enhances Anytime’s ability to present the very best in entertainment to all age groups. BVITV’s award-winning line-up of entertainment further establishes ANYTIME as the pre-eminent Video on-Demand channel in Asia Pacific.”

    Anytime provides video content owners, such as BVITV, with a streamlined process for getting product to market, giving fast access to new audiences and revenue streams. It provides carriers with a complete programming solution covering content and metadata, data encoding and encryption, interface development and marketing support.

  • IPTV World Forum announces key speakers for next year’s event

    IPTV World Forum announces key speakers for next year’s event

    MUMBAI: Junction Ltd has announced speakers from across the telecoms and broadcast industry for its March 2007 event IPTV World Forum.

    The announcement comes as over 110 exhibitors have already confirmed their attendance at the show being staged at the Olympia in London from 5-7 March 2007.

    The conference will feature over 40 worldwide telcos and ISPs discussing IPTV service deployment issues. Speakers include Telefonica, PCCW, Belgacom, BT, SaskTel, Deutsche Telekom AG/T-Com, Telstra, T-Online France, AT&T, Telecom New Zealand, NetCologne, Telekom Austria, Fastweb, BSkyB, Orange, Bharti Airtel Ltd and Siminn.

    Junction MD Ian Johnson says, “IPTV is now a major industry phenomenon and next March’s London event will, I believe, be a major landmark for professionals from all over Europe – and beyond – to gather and discuss their experiences together”.

    The speakers include Orange UK CEO Bernard Ghillebaert, PCCW head of strategic market development Paul Berriman and BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield.

    IPTV Junction notes is moving rapidly towards mass-market adoption. The involvement of incumbent telecoms operators in most major markets by 2007 (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, for example) will provide the marketing, word-of-mouth and – for the many conservative-minded television viewers yet to switch to digital TV – the credibility that could boost the market for all IPTV providers.

    Several early IPTV deployments are now reaching subscriber figures where they must be taken seriously, including Telefonica in Spain, which has over 200,000 subscribers for its Imagenio television service (launched commercially November 2004). The Spanish company is predicting one million customers by 2008. France Telecom (launched December 2003) doubled its customer count during 2005, ending the year with 200,000 subscribers for its MaLigne TV service too.

    The pace of deployment is accelerating: Telekom Austria launched its aonDigitalTV video-over-DSL service in Vienna in March 2006 and KPN in the Netherlands is preparing for a second quarter (2006) commercial launch. Deutsche Telekom is hoping to roll out its 100 channel broadcast TV (including HDTV) and VOD service late summer 2006 and BT has scheduled late summer/autumn for its hybrid DSL/DTT offering.

    Competition is also increasing. Utility companies continue to launch television services but the main rivals to the big telcos are alternative broadband providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The second half of 2006 and 2007 will also see the expansion of incumbent telcos into territories outside their domestic markets – where necessary using LLU to compete with their peers on ‘leased’ networks.

    France Telecom has already announced that it will launch IPTV in Spain, the UK and Poland this year, followed by the Netherlands (not to mention Mauritius, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). Meanwhile Telecom Italia – through its subsidiary HanseNet – is adding television to its existing telephone and DSL services in Germany, starting in Hamburg. Telecom Italia also launched television services in France (via Telecom Italia France’s AliceBox triple-play service) in January. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Online is taking IPTV to Hungary, with a planned commercial roll-out of TV-over-DSL in Budapest and other major cities later this year.

    And to add further spice to this market, existing Pay TV operators from the satellite and cable world are buying into DSL. BSkyB bought UK DSL network provider Easynet in January (2006) to give itself a two-way network and exploit the “exciting opportunities that now exist to combine quality entertainment with significant high-speed connections.” Europe’s largest satellite TV provider has told investors that it intends to introduce IPTV some time after 2007. Meanwhile, UPC Austria (part of the pan-European UPC group owned by Liberty Global) has agreed to acquire the Austrian xDSL provider Inode – so establishing a national footprint, initially for high-speed data and voice.

    All this activity is underpinned by network upgrades across Europe. BT in the UK is now committed to delivering ADSL speeds up 8Mbps from 5,300 telephone exchanges in the UK – putting broadband in reach of 99.6 per cent of the country. France Telecom and Telefonica, among others, are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service.

    So with high-speed networks available and expanding their reach, multiple service launches and growing subscriber figures, the big questions are how much market share IPTV providers can take from satellite and cable, and whether they can make money – if indeed, video revenues are their real motive rather than simply reducing churn on voice/data customers. Are there digital TV newcomers who will choose IPTV ahead of digital terrestrial – and are these the customers IPTV providers want? And can companies differentiate their services sufficiently from cable and satellite to tempt existing Pay TV subscribers away from them?

    These are among the many topics that will be discussed at the IPTV World Forum 2007 in London – the No.1 conference/exhibition for the IPTV community. You can read more about the 2007 conference theme elsewhere on this site.

    IPTV World Forum 2007 provides a chance to assess the lessons learned from video-over-DSL and FTTH deployments in the preceding 18 months. With incumbent telcos like BT and Deutsche Telekom preparing to deploy during 2006, and an increasing number of ISPs using Local Loop Unbundling to offer competitive services, the conference will assess the impact of new services, the business models used, marketing strategies and the many technology issues that determine the service offer and IPTV economics.

    By next year, it will be clear what impact telecoms giants like France Telecom and Telefonica are having in the Pay TV market and what effect their video offers have had in terms of reducing customer churn and cementing relationships with voice/data subscribers. With some business analysts suggesting national telcos should retreat from the video business as fast as they got into it, a key theme for IPTV World Forum 2007 is whether telco TV is working.

    So for 2007, the forum will be assessing the motives of incumbent telcos, utility providers and ISPs and asking whether their business objectives are being met, at what cost, and whether IPTV looks sustainable in the face of content-rich satellite operators, modernising cable companies and increasingly successful free-to-air and Pay TV digital terrestrial platforms.

    IPTV World Forum 2007 will consider the threats and opportunities facing new video providers – including the emergence of ‘over-the-top’ video services from Internet-based content aggregators/downloaders like Google TV and Apple iTunes. The conference will look at how incumbent telcos in particular handle their relationships with these companies – including how they can partner with them, seek to obstruct them, or beat them at their own game.

    The conference will focus heavily on how IPTV operators differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded television marketplace. We will look at integrated voice/data/video services, assess the full potential of IMS (Integrated Multimedia Subsystems) and look at how some telcos are seeking to put each consumer at the heart of their own, personalised video universe that stretches beyond the home to their mobile devices and remote Internet connections.

    The confeernce will assess service strategies including how HDTV can be monetised most effectively, and how PVR, network PVR and Video on Demand can be harnessed to provide seamless on-demand experiences. The conference will examine how operators can link live broadcast TV with on-demand TV and on-demand/interactive advertising, and how interactive applications can be exploited to increase customer satisfaction and revenues.

    Network economics (including technology developments in content distribution, headends and backbone/last mile networks) will be assessed. The conference will also consider home networking strategies, including the best way to move video around homes – and how the video experience can be extended to portable devices. Customer Premise Equipment and Digital Rights Management technology and strategies will be assessed.

    Content strategies are another important subject that will be covered at IPTV World Forum 2007 – including availability, pricing, bundling, up selling, loss-leading and promotions. The conference will look at what type of content is working on IP networks today, and what kind of content can help drive ambitions for whole-home and mobile video experiences. The conference will assess locally created IPTV content and assess whether telcos should make content king – or focus on building services (like home networks) that lock customers in.

  • Addressable platforms offer huge revenue upscale for filmmakers

    Addressable platforms offer huge revenue upscale for filmmakers

    MUMBAI: The Bollywood industry has something to look forward to from emerging addressable platforms like Direct-to-home (DTH) and IPTV.

    Tata Sky will offer several dedicated movie and audio channels as part of its product package to lure subscribers away from the cable networks. “Movie-on-demand will allow consumers to view the latest films without ad clutters. They also can do away with pirated VCDs where quality is poor. We are showing a movie on multiple timings and this is quite popular with our subscribers,” said Tata Sky head consumer marketing Vikram Mehra. He was speaking at a session on the home entertainment segment.

    Tata Sky has already touched a subscriber base of 250,000 and is on target to achieve one million within a year of operations, Mehra added.

    Film producers and broadcasters suffered from a loss of revenues due to piracy and under-reporting of subscribers by cable operators. Having had to suffer from bad video quality, film producers can now tap an additional revenue stream with its addressable system of reporting subscriber figures, said Mehra. “Digital addressable system will keep all the stakeholders happy. The ground is ready for DTH to take off,” he added.

    Home entertainment in India offers only 7-8 per cent of total revenue collections for a film, while in the US it was as high as 65 per cent, said Silicon Image president and CEO Steve Tirado, while speaking at the same session.

    As digital content travels across devices, home would form an important part of the media distribution strategy. The challenge was to work out a digital interface across various devices.

    About 73 per cent of American households would rather watch movies at home as 80 per cent of them own DVD players. “Content will roam among devices. Storage will also form a critical part of home entertainment. Scheduled viewing is in permanent decline except for spectacles and live sports,” Tirado said.

    Fighting piracy was what all the speakers agreed would be at the core of generating more revenues. “We have to evolve a strong distribution network to combat this. Besides, penetration shouldn’t be the only focus and companies have to come out with strategies to get prices up,” said Saregama India MD Subroto Chattopadhyay.

    Speaking on the international business of home entertainment, Shemaroo CEO Hiren Gada said theatrical collections accounted for 60 per cent of overseas earnings. There was potential to rake in more money from territories outside the US (which contributed 30 per cent), UK (28 per cent) and UAE (20 per cent). Piracy and high acquisition prices were among the red flags that threatened the sector, he added.

  • AnyTime clinches VoD deal with IOL

    AnyTime clinches VoD deal with IOL

    aMUMBAI: AnyTime, Asia Pacific’s video-on-demand channel (VoD), has signed a five-year distribution agreement with India’s broadband provider, India On Line Broadband Ltd (IOL).

    Four million homes in Mumbai and Delhi will have access to AnyTime VoD movie channel and interactive games channels by March 2007, asserts an official release.

    The AnyTime VoD movie channel will be the exclusive provider of Hollywood VoD programs and will form the cornerstone of the MTNL-IOL and BSNL-IOL IPTV platforms, supported by BSNL respectively.

    The AnyTime channel is expected to go live in December, making a wide range of Hollywood movies-both new releases and library titles. Besides that interactive games would be available on-demand which will introduce a new level of choice and control in entertainment in India, adds the release.

    AnyTime CEO Craig Zimbulis said, “This is an unprecedented deal for IPTV in the region. On-demand delivery of video content is set to boom in India, this is a country that clearly has a huge appetite for next generation services. IOL, MTNL, BSNL and AnyTime by working together will be able to offer Indian viewers an entirely new way to enjoy and consume Hollywood entertainment.”

    “Singapore’s transparent media regulatory framework and its abundant supply of skilled industry professionals have given AnyTime a great home and assisted AnyTime in realising our Asia Pacific growth plans and ambitions,” he added.