Marc Policani's Digital Media Blog: IPTV

Thinking Globally, Stuck Locally

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:01:30 GMT

Weary of going town to town to get into the TV biz, the Bells want Washington's help

Last summer, phone companies turned Indiana into ground zero in their war with cable and satellite providers. Armies of lobbyists for Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ ) and AT&T Inc. (T ) descended upon Indianapolis and kvetched about the state of cable television. Having invested billions of dollars to upgrade their communications networks so they were capable of offering TV service, the phone giants wanted a law making it easier to actually offer it.

Their entry into the market has been as slow as a dial-up connection because U.S. law requires them to negotiate so-called franchise agreements with thousands of municipalities, town by town by town, across the U.S. That process can drag on for years. So phone companies are pushing states such as Indiana to let them speed up the process.

In January, after the Indiana legislature introduced a statewide franchising bill, the fight turned nasty. Attack ads funded by the cable industry rained down like hailstones. One, featuring a blonde-haired girl in a field of wildflowers, claimed the bill would "raise our taxes by millions of dollars" and allow the "phone companies to provide video services to only the wealthiest neighborhoods."

The negative blitz didn't work, though. On Feb. 28, the General Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 78 to 18. Governor Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. signed it into law on Mar. 14, boasting that the bill would spark big investments in the state. "In politics, momentum is everything," says AT&T Senior Vice-President James W. Cicconi. "And right now there is incredible momentum behind reforming the franchise."

For all the talk about broadband technology and video-content agreements, the biggest hurdle to phone companies sending TV into homes has been getting local government approval. Of the 301 franchise negotiations that Verizon is working, 107 have been dragging on for more than a year, according to a letter it filed on Mar. 8 with the Federal Communications Commission.

Sun DRM finds a home in Korean IPTV pilot

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 00:19:29 GMT

The Register reports:

Sun Microsystems may have already found its first customer, in a Korean IPTV system, for its DReaM (DRM Everywhere Available) open source DRM, a system that is not meant to be completed for at least another 12 months.

This was revealed by the director of conditional access at Korean company Alticast, as he was speaking at a Sun Microsystems event at the end of March. Alticast revealed plans to build the DReaM conditional access system into an IPTV pilot, but also to build a commercial product based on it for implementation throughout the Far East. Sun says it is still between nine and 15 months away from a product, but since this is based on an Open source process, code exists already for most of the system.

This week Sun released the source code for two components of DReaM, its DReaM-CAS (Conditional Access System) and DReaMMMI (Mother May I) the underlying mechanism for always asking a central resource for permission to access content. In papers that Sun put out this week it has described both of these processes. DReaMCAS or D-CAS currently only manages access to content in the MPEG-2 format.
Sun told us in October that it plans to create a royalty-free, interoperable DRM technology, independent of any specific hardware or operating systems which focuses on the concept of a user being given access to content, rather than one specific device being authenticated. This is something that may come more easily to Sun, since it can rely on the Liberty Alliance initiative which is was also behind, for allowing a single copy of a persons identity to act as a trust source for other services, without having to reveal identities to other services.

IPTV in the Bronx

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 14:38:49 GMT

Verizon has yet to deploy triple-play services to the Bronx, so one local Bronx ISP named Urban Telephone and Video has been doing it themselves. Spectrum Online (via Techdirt) profiles the company, which offers 300 IPTV channels, 8Mbps broadband, and unlimited VoIP phone service over copper. The two individuals who run the company do everything themselves, including heading beneath city streets to run cable.

Siemens tackles Microsoft IPTV dominance

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 15:21:58 GMT

Recent speculation about problems with Microsoft's new Internet Protocol television software could give Siemens, the German telecommunications equipment giant, just the opportunity it's looking for to break into the emerging IPTV market.

Siemens, which makes equipment used by phone carriers to deliver broadband Internet access, claimed its stake in the IPTV market in April when it announced it was buying a small software company called Myrio, which specializes in IPTV software.

The next step is taking on Microsoft. The software giant is already considered by many to be the leader in this nascent market, with a software package that manages distribution of video content from the time it's picked up from a network until it reaches the set-top box in the home.

Though dozens of smaller companies offer pieces of the IPTV software solution, Microsoft is the only one that offers one-stop shopping for all the necessary applications. Microsoft offers software that lets operators acquire broadcast and on-demand programming from multiple sources, such as ESPN or HBO. It also sells software that manages the content and subscribers, and an operational- and billing-management system. On the consumer side, Microsoft also provides the software that sits in set-top boxes and provides viewers with a multimedia program guide. [ more... ]

Pace Launches First Ever Hardware H.264 Set-Top Box

Mon, 23 May 2005 16:33:52 GMT

IPTV is one step closer thanks to an innovative new product from Pace Micro Technology , the world's largest dedicated developer of digital set-top box technology. The company has developed the World's first hardware H.264 decode set-top box - the IP215 - to provide telcos and operators with an entry-level solution for the lucrative IPTV market. [ more... ]

The Engadget Interview: Bill Gates, Pt. 2

Wed, 04 May 2005 14:48:57 GMT

Engadget writes, "In part one of our interview with Bill Gates, published yesterday, we chatted with him about the next Xbox console, whether or not Microsoft is going to come out with a competitor for the PlayStation Portable, and the future of Windows Mobile. In today’s second and final installment we asked him about HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray, IPTV, Windows Media Center and DTV, and why the Tablet PC has struggled so much in the marketplace." [ more... ]

Pixelworks Pays $110m to Enter IPTV Market

Wed, 04 May 2005 14:45:58 GMT

Display graphics chip designer Pixelworks Inc is to acquire privately held circuit maker Equator Technologies Inc in order to gain entry to the Internet Protocol Television market. [ more... ]

Verizon Expands iObi

Wed, 04 May 2005 14:38:13 GMT

"Verizon's master plan is to run fiber to your home (provided you live in a dense, semi-affluent neighborhood), then provide you every service under the sun, from IPTV to VoIP. Part of that plan includes Iobi, Verizon's effort at making e-mail, voicemail, SMS - all more easily manageable through single devices (PC, handhelds). Offered last fall in New England, the company has announced that six new states can now sign up for the $8 monthly service. As part of this convergence-mania, Verizon will soon be selling a Wi-Fi hotspot phone from Westell that incorporates a DSL Modem, a Wi-Fi router (802.11g), iObi, and a cordless phone (5.8Ghz)." | Source: Broadband Reports.com

Press Release: Laurel Networks Delivers ``Drop-in'' IP Video Routing Solution

Wed, 04 May 2005 14:34:20 GMT

On Monday Laurel Networks, Inc. announced its new "drop-in" IP Video Routing Solution designed to meet the needs of DSL access providers who want to offer video services. Based on Laurel's ST200 broadband services router, the new offering enables highly-reliable broadcast IPTV and Video on Demand services alongside high-speed Internet and voice services. [ more... ]

Telcos Face Tough Road Deploying IPTV: Report

Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:37:51 GMT

Matthew Friedman writes, "After the false starts of the late 1990s, North American telecommunications carriers are salivating at the prospect of delivering television to consumers over their IP networks. However, a new report from Forrester research notes that, for all their excitement, "it is a long road from today's flashy Consumer Electronics Show (CES) demos to mass adoption of telco IPTV."

Both SBC and Verizon have already invested substantial capital to deploy IPTV-capable networks. According to the report, "Telcos' IPTV Reality Check," Verizon expects to pass three million subscribers with 5 to 30 Mbps fiber to the home by the end of this year. By late 2007, SBC plans to pass 18 million subscribers with its 5 to 20 Mbps fiber to the neighborhood network.

Nevertheless, report author Maribel Lopez notes that the carriers' success in IPTV will depend on a lot more than pulling broadband connections to subscribers' living rooms. "Listening to telco pitches, you would think that it was simply a matter of flipping a switch to deliver TV to any consumer anywhere," she writes. "But before telcos can launch a widespread TV offering, they must replace part of the copper plant with fiber, update the billing and provisioning system to support video, and bulletproof the equipment that will go into the home."

The carriers are far behind cable providers, their main competition in television delivery, and it's going to cost a lot for them to catch up. The price tag on SBC's network upgrade plans is a cool $4 billion, and Verizon will add 3,000 to 5,000 outside plant engineers at considerable cost to upgrade 2 million copper lines to fiber by the end of 2005." [ more... ]

IPTV: Making it Work

Tue, 26 Apr 2005 16:59:27 GMT

Derek Kuhn writes, "Video is not a business for the uncommitted or inexperienced player. Cable companies have had years of experience in acquiring and delivering content to subscribers and have had several years' experience in developing their pay-per-view (PPV) - and in some cases VOD - businesses while they converted their networks to two-way to support high-speed Internet (HSI) services. Coupled with the increasing acceptance of high-definition television (HDTV) by both the content producers (all major U.S. networks now offer an HDTV broadcast) and consumers (The Yankee Group3 estimates that more than 40 percent of U.S. households will have HDTV-capable equipment by 2007 and 90 percent of those equipment owners will subscribe to an HDTV service from either a cable/MSO, DBS or telco provider), it is clear that telcos must commit today to enable their networks to drive revenues in the future." [ more... ]

BRAS: Music to Carriers' Ears

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:08:19 GMT

I want my IPTV! That's the chant carriers claim they've been hearing loud and clear as they feverishly equip networks with BRAS (broadband-remote access servers), which will play a starring role in the delivery of fat content to the adoring masses. [ more... ]

IPTV Security: Content Is King

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 20:42:31 GMT

"IPTV content streams -- like other IP services, such as VOIP -- are subject to spoofing, spamming, content theft, and other types of hacks, broadcast industry folks here say.

In contrast to the analog world, where tampering with the content meant using black-market hardware to unscramble a signal, IPTV encryption takes place on the software level. So hacking into a system is really just a matter of writing some malicious code. And that's got some carriers and content providers worried (see LR's TIC: Get Me Video ).

Several kinds of IP-based attacks are possible on IPTV networks. In the IPTV world, for example, spoofing is possible, but there's no precedent yet, according to Jim Veres, VP of advanced engineering for Widevine Technologies Inc.

“Hackers can spoof an IPTV network by trying to pretend they are a headend and flowing content down to your set-top box that might not be appropriate,” Veras says. “The question is how does somebody make money doing that -- although I don’t understand why people do denial-of-service attacks either.”" [ more... ]

The Clicker: Satellite TV and IPTV vs, Cable

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 20:41:35 GMT

"Between the bandwidth of fiber, the advances in compression technology, and the upcoming launch of additional satellites, the IPTV market and the satellite market will soon have the ability to offer hundreds of HD channels.

Sounds great? Well… yes and no. If you didn’t like the, uh, “openness” of OpenCable, you’re probably not going to like IPTV and satellite. At least with OpenCable the consumer stands a chance of having a choice in set-top boxes." [ more... ]

TCOM&DTVRO Co., Ltd. Announces High Bandwidth H.264 Set-top Box for IPTV Market

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:54:22 GMT

Tcom&dtvro Co., Ltd. today announced the introduction of the TD530, one of the industry's first H.264 IP set-top boxes (STB) for IPTV applications in Korea. Offering a feature-rich, interoperable solution, the TD530 will be demonstrated at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference in Las Vegas, April 18-21, and available for viewing in the Tcom&dtvro booth #SU9723 C/E in the Korea Pavilion.

Powered by TI's TMS320DM642 digital media processor, the TD530 enables advanced interactive multimedia applications such as voice over IP and TV over IP for carriers, targeting the corporate, hospitality and retail markets. As a result of the DM642's high performance, the TD530 also supports Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9 Series and performs on screen display (OSD), anti- flicker filter and video decoding in tandem, TI's programmability also affords TCOM&DTVro ease of design to support a variety of set top box models and new codec profiles in software. [ more... ]

Coaxsys Announces Biggest U.S. Deal To Provide ITPV Services

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:54:14 GMT

Yahoo! News: "Coaxsys today announced what it calls the largest in-home deployment of IPTV home networking products in the United States. The company said that Consolidated Communications Inc., the nation's 15th largest local telephone company, is now offering IPTV service to its subscribers using Coaxsys' TVnet.

TVnet technology transforms a subscriber's existing TV coaxial cable infrastructure into a high-speed, IPTV-ready digital entertainment network. It delivers up to 104 Mbps transfer rate and supports distances up to 250 feet. TVnet is also compatible with TV splitters and supports Ethernet unicast, multicast, and broadcast.

Once a TVnet adapter is connected to the video or broadband source, all other coaxial jacks in the home become network enabled. Other TVnet adapters can then be connected to any network-enabled device to provide access to the Internet, share peripherals, or stream high-quality digital audio and video, including multi-channel TV and HDTV signals." [ more... ]

Verizon's Seidenberg Promotes IPTV

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:51:13 GMT

Converge Network Digest, covering one of the NAB 2005 Keynote presentations, writes, ""FiOS will change the competitive landscape in the video marketplace, both now and in the future. From Day One, we'll offer a new technology, a new business model and a new customer experience," said Ivan Seidenberg, the chairman and CEO of Verizon, speaking at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas. So far, Verizon has deployed its fiber-to-the-premises network in more than 100 communities across its service territory, and it plans to reach a total of 3 million homes by the end of this year.

Seidenberg is convinced that consumers will prefer the flexibility and integrated lifestyle enabled by IPTV. He said Verizon would offer more local content than cable or satellite. It will also provide upstream speeds will give customers multimedia and interactive capabilities such as sharing family videos, video on demand, 3-D gaming and setting camera angles for sporting events. FiOS TV will also offer HDTV and DVR (digital video recorder) functionality on multiple TV sets. Seidenberg said he is committed to protect intellectual property in a digital universe, specifically that Verizon will help broadcasters address retransmission issues in ways that expand the market for both the company and the broadcasters.

Seidenberg also said that Verizon is committed to partnering with broadcasters on the policy issues related to Verizon's entry into video. Citing the requirement that Verizon obtain a franchise from local authorities to provide cable service, Seidenberg noted that, as a local telephone company, Verizon has always had a franchise to deploy and operate its networks. Now, he said, the company is being asked to obtain a second franchise to use these networks to compete in video."

Global IPTV Market Leader Report Now Tracking Over 220 Service Providers and 60 Suppliers

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:47:28 GMT

Press Release: "Part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service, the new IP TV Market Leader Report--March 2005 measures the competitive position of 62 suppliers for 223 service providers (an increase of 30% over the previous report), serving over 2 million subscribers. The global Report ranks these 62 hardware/software suppliers for their "market position" and "growth opportunity" in Asia, Europe, North America, and the "ROW" in each of six market sectors, including analysis of which service providers buy the most products within each sector.

"The IPTV market is still in early development," states Bob Larribeau, MRG Sr. Analyst, "so it is prone to unpredictable market dynamics." Some of the sector highlights include surprises: in the Middleware sector, Microsoft joined forces with Alcatel, winning long-term contracts with SBC in the U.S. In Set-top Boxes, while competition remains balanced among multiple suppliers, such as Motorola, Pace, Amino, Kreatel, i3 and others, Yuxing gained strength in Asia based on its deployment in PCCW/Hong Kong. In VOD Servers, while Kasenna and Bitband maintained leadership in North America and Europe, respectively, Entone won a big contract with PCCW (Hong Kong), which strengthened its position in China." [ more... ]

Modulus Video Demos High Definition MPEG-4 AVC Video

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:45:52 GMT

Digital Video Editing reports that, "Modulus Video, Inc. is demonstrating full frame rate 1080i high definition (HD) video delivered at 5.5 Mbps -- the lowest bit rates yet achieved by a real-time AVC encoder -- through 10.5 Mbps. This achievement underscores Modulus' commitment to delivering the highest quality video at the lowest bit rates and has profound implications for new satellite, cable, and telco IPTV services that must deliver high fidelity HD images using limited available bandwidth.

Lower bit rates mean that service providers can more readily meet demand for increased channel count, new bandwidth-intensive HD channels and additional digital television services. Visitors to the Modulus booth at NAB 2005, SU9636, can compare the remarkable quality of the 5.5 Mbps video stream alongside a 10.5 Mbps HD video stream.

"This is the strongest example to date of the full power AVC offers to broadcasters," said CEO and Chairman Bob Wilson. "NAB provides a unique opportunity for broadcasters to evaluate new technology, so we decided to be very aggressive with this demonstration. The combination of the sheer horsepower and elegant design in the ME6000 enables Modulus to show not only what we can do now at 10.5 Mbps, but, to also illustrate the anticipated evolution of the product over time."" [ more...]

SkyStream Offers Complete MPEG-4 AVC Solution for IPTV

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:44:20 GMT

Digitalwebcast.com reports that, "SkyStream, the leader in IP video delivery solutions, today announced the integration of its MPEG -4 AVC headends, the Mediaplex and iPlex platforms, with set-top boxes from Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), Astri, i3, Sentivision, and Thomson.

By giving service providers flexibility and choice with a wide-range of proven MPEG -4 AVC set-top box options and potential applications, SkyStream is offering a complete, interoperable solution to enable roll-out of end-to-end MPEG -4 AVC-based services. SkyStream's AVC complete solution works with any leading middleware and leading digital rights management (DRM) or conditional access (CA) solutions that service providers select for their deployments

SkyStream's headends will provide MPEG -4 AVC encoding and transcoding to convert MPEG -2 content to an MPEG -4 format, for transmission over any type of network to an MPEG -4 set-top box. This ability to deliver high-quality content at low bit rates generates substantial bandwidth and cost savings for service providers offering IPTV, Video-on-Demand and content delivery over any last mile network. SkyStream's MPEG -4 AVC solution uses highly efficient algorithms, including CABAC and CAVLC, to produce superior broadcast video at half the bit rate of MPEG -2." [ more... ]

IPTV: The Big Picture

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:42:39 GMT

Gerry Blackwell writes, "Despite optimistic sales forecasts and compelling business cases presented by IPTV equipment vendors, analysts say that IPTV—pay TV delivered over a broadband IP network—faces a number of market and regulatory challenges, and probably slow, uncertain growth for the foreseeable future.

Jupiter Research, part of Jupitermedia Corporation, which publishes this website, and Point-Topic Ltd., a UK-based market research firm specializing in broadband communications services, have both begun tracking the emerging IPTV industry recently. With a few notable exceptions, they say, not very much has happened yet.

"There were a lot of announcements in 2004 of trials and service launches," says John Bosnell, senior analyst at Point-Topic, "but a lot of those haven't quite got going yet."

The challenges include inadequate network infrastructure, unfriendly regulatory environments, high and often unpredictable capital costs, the difficulty of securing content consumers want and the uncertainty around whether consumers will actually switch to an IP-based pay TV system." [ more... ]

IPTV: The Big Picture

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:23:52 GMT

In a market research report for ISP-Planet, Gerry Blackwell writes, "

Despite optimistic sales forecasts and compelling business cases presented by IPTV equipment vendors, analysts say that IPTV—pay TV delivered over a broadband IP network—faces a number of market and regulatory challenges, and probably slow, uncertain growth for the foreseeable future.

"There were a lot of announcements in 2004 of trials and service launches," says John Bosnell, senior analyst at Point-Topic, "but a lot of those haven't quite got going yet."

Optibase's New Video Contribution Solution Saves Costs For Broadcasters

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:53:37 GMT

Optibase just announced the availability of an "end-to-end solution that allows broadcasters and TV networks to reduce costs and gain efficiencies by moving digital video content between studios, stations, locations and affiliates over IP networks. Broadcasters face tremendous pressure to improve their overall efficiency, to reduce costs, and to improve profitability. To address these needs, Optibase has released a family of products for the reliable delivery of high-quality video over IP. The solution combines Optibase's family of Media Gateways MGW 200, MGW 2000e and MGW 1100, with a family of IP decoders from ADI, a provider of MPEG-2 multi channel decoders. The solution will be demonstrated at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas, April 18-21, 2005, in Booth #SL 343." [ more... ]

US phone companies dialling into cable TV turf

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:45:04 GMT

The Age is carrying a piece by The New York Times stating that, "Telephone companies in the US are desperate to be seen, not just heard. In the coming months, companies in the Bell system will start selling TV programming in their most recent effort to crack a market in which they have had almost no presence.

US cable TV companies are already bracing for the onslaught.

To offer paid TV services, the Bell companies are spending billions of dollars to expand their superfast fibre-optic networks and improving technology that can send video to their phone and internet customers. But in addition to laying new fibre lines, the phone companies also must acquire expensive programming rights, go through the tedious process of getting permission from municipalities to sell television, and master the internet-based technology that sends video programming over the same network that delivers voice and data streams.

Even after these investments, the Bell companies will face formidable challenges. To lure customers from cable and satellite providers, analysts say, they have to offer better programming and features at a lower price." [ more... ]

SecureMedia and Oregan Networks Offer Pre-Integrated IP-STB Client Software for Secure Delivery of IPTV and VOD Services Over Broadband

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:35:47 GMT

In a Press Release from Oregan Networks and SecureMedia announce that they have, jointly announced the "availability of a pre-integrated embedded solution for the distribution of protected video and music services over broadband networks and subsequent secure consumption across home networks. The product of the Oregan and SecureMedia partnership has been implemented across a number of leading IP-STB hardware platforms, and is capable of supporting a wide spectrum of video codecs including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 and WMV9. The companies can deliver an integrated SDK for a supported hardware platform, complete with configuration and user interface customization tools. The solution is also readily portable to new hardware platforms.

Reed Hinkel, Oregan Networks VP of Business Development said, "Content is a major driver in the convergence market, with DRM technologies being the primary facilitator of transition to its digital distribution. The strength of this collaboration lies in the combination of Oregan's broadband and home network media delivery with SecureMedia's lightweight yet robust content protection mechanism, which is backed by leading content providers."

Fred Ellis, CEO of SecureMedia noted, "Oregan Media Browser encapsulates an IPTV / VOD and DLNA client, which enables us to pre-integrate the media client building blocks, thus simplifying the task of the end product and system design. The product of the Oregan and SecureMedia partnership is a versatile application that traverses the Broadcast, Broadband and PC worlds, allowing multiple media access functionalities to be controlled via a unified user interface while ensuring content security. The resulting platform is entirely software-based and platform agnostic, permitting its speedy integration on a variety of operating systems and hardware processor architectures."

During the NAB Show, SecureMedia and Oregan Networks will showcase an end-to-end protected content delivery ecosystem comprising Oregan Media Browser and the Encryptonite CA/DRM System. The ecosystem facilitates streaming, decrypting and decoding of encrypted media from an Internet-based server, with optional caching via an internal storage device." [ more... ]

Club iT and Alcatel Bring G-Cluster Gaming-on-Demand to Cyprus Telecommunications Authority Interactive TV Service As Part of Alcatel's Open Media Platform

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:32:10 GMT

"Club iT and Alcatel today announce G-cluster Gaming-on-Demand on CYTA's miVision, an Interactive IPTV service. G-cluster technology is distributed by Club iT Corporation, a subsidiary of SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation.

The G-cluster solution is fully integrated with Alcatel's Open Media Platform (OMP), the leading IPTV middleware suite. Alcatel, acting as reseller and system integrator, has been leading the drive to establish G-cluster technology as the next generation gaming platform for broadband networks.

As part of miVision service, which is powered by Alcatel's OMP, customers will be able to play the latest console and PC games on their set-top boxes (STBs). The G-cluster solution ensures that there is no need for hardware upgrades to existing miVision customer premise equipment.

When a customer selects a game title, the game software will be executed in one of 6 miVision server centers. G-cluster servers stream the video and sound output to the STB. User input (jump, move left, fire, etc) is sent from the STB to the appropriate server centre. Players can use remote controls, keyboards, or USB game pads connected to the STB as input devices. " [ more on RedNova News... ]

Manti Telecommunications Company Selects net.com to Enable IP Video Solutions

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:25:21 GMT

Network Equipment Technologies, Inc (NWK). announced today that, "Manti Telecommunications Company of Sanpete County, Utah has selected the company's SCREAM broadband service delivery platform to facilitate the delivery of video-on-demand as well as position the company for delivery of IPTV, leveraging their existing ATM head-end and ATM-based network. The video-on-demand services will stream MPEG-2 encoded content selected by users through an on-demand service selection portal and allow them to watch, pause, rewind, and fast forward movies in real time."

Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. will be, "providing the SCREAM service delivery platform, a next generation broadband remote access server (BRAS) designed to deliver advanced quality of service (QoS) required for delivering the triple play of voice, video and data services over either ATM or IP. SCREAM also provides the subscriber management functionality required for basic broadband Internet access.

The initial deployment will contain the SCREAM100 platform. The SCREAM100 is a fully redundant ATM switch, IP router and BRAS designed for cost-conscious service providers needing a flexible platform for service delivery. The SCREAM product will be deployed in conjunction with a third party video-on-demand solution." [ more... ]

Tandburg Television Shows Complete Advanced Compression at NAB

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:21:38 GMT

Broadcast Newsroom reports that Tandburg Television's NAB 2005 booth will include an, "end-to-end demonstrations of Windows Media Video 9 (VC-1) and MPEG -4 AVC in live TV over DSL and HDTV DTH satellite delivery networks. These demos will show the complete TANDBERG Television advanced encoding environment with first-to-market encoding, modulation, statistical multiplexing and control and monitoring solutions. Both of these SD and HD advanced compression demos will also show advanced end-to-end systems and interoperability with a wide range of silicon and set-top box vendors.

Visitors to the Microsoft booth (SL 332) will be able to see another NAB-first with a live HD Windows Media Video 9 (VC-1) demonstration to a set-top box. The system uses TANDBERG Television ’s Windows Media 9 Series EN5980 HD encoder to deliver broadcast-quality HD pictures to the RCA IP1100 High Definition Networked Entertainment Set-Top Box Platform, Thomson's next generation decoder incorporating advanced video compression technology." [ more... ]

Broadband Services Forum Members Put IPTV First for Leading Industry Group

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 15:44:41 GMT

The Broadband Services Forum has released a Press release stating that the members of the forum have, "set the direction of the group's future initiatives. Project work on IPTV and dynamic and interactive services such as gaming and video were given top priority by a poll of the meeting's attendees. "Content-to-go" was another area on which the BSF membership wanted to focus. These areas will top the BSF's agenda in 2005.

The input from a membership representing diverse industry segments within the broadband market is one of the greatest strengths of the BSF. "As the only industry group that represents the interests of service providers, content providers and technology vendors, the BSF is a unique position to address the profitable new services that are critical to all of these stakeholders," said BSF Chairman Derek Kuhn.

The BSF meeting also marked the release of a white paper on Content-Aware Networking Services (CANS) by its Technology Working Group. Juniper Networks VP Scott Stevens outlined the action plan for the CANS project. Completion of the CANS project will include a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that will facilitate network-level device authentication and automation of service delivery. The BSF will take these APIs to a standards organization for formal codification.

The keynote "The Promise of IP Television" was delivered by Amy Friedlander, SVP of Programming at SBC. In her presentation, Friedlander shared SBC's services vision, and provided valuable insights into how service providers and their partners can work together to define and monetize new services. " [ more... ]

Frontier to test TV via phone line in Elk Grove

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 15:43:31 GMT

According to an article appearing in The Sacramento Bee, "Frontier Communications, which has hinted at plans to offer cable television service over phone lines, will launch a pilot program for the technology in Elk Grove sometime in the third quarter."

SkyStream Selected by NTT and Itochu for OnDemandTV Service

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:57:14 GMT

SkyStream® today announced that OnDemandTV has selected SkyStream's Mediaplex-20(TM) video headend to support a nationwide rollout of IP-based broadcast television in Japan.

"After an intense evaluation period, OnDemandTV selected SkyStream's Mediaplex headend as its primary broadcast video source processor.

"We expect our IPTV rollout to be highly successful, so it's critical for our equipment to scale to support millions of users and to maintain reliability as the deployment grows," said Yasuyuki Taniguchi, chief manager of engineering for OnDemandTV. "SkyStream's Mediaplex ensures that our video service is always up and running and the product's scalability allows us to easily and affordably expand or upgrade our services."

NTT's regional communications business is served by NTT East and NTT West, which provide telephone and broadband services to more than 60 million subscribers. OnDemandTV will use NTT East and NTT West's networks to deliver TV directly to consumer homes. The service will provide 23 broadcast channels as well as an extensive library of video on demand (VoD) movies." [ more... ]

Verizon's going GPON 2.4 gig, Wegleitner wants performance for IPTV

Tue, 12 Apr 2005 17:06:29 GMT

"Verizon in about 12 months will begin the switch to an upgraded fiber system, GPON, which provides 2.4 Gbps downstream, 1.2 Gbps upstream, to each cluster of up to 32 homes. That's 4 times the speed of the current BPON, which yields only 19 Mbps per home (622 divided 32 ways), too little for IP TV with HD. BPON is painfully slow compared to what cable will upgrade to (or even some VDSL). Mark Wegleitner last June spoke of the importance of switched TV, which implied, as he confirmed, higher speeds than BPON.

Wegleitner had been considering both GPON and G-EPON. Most of the other large North American carriers have been leaning to GPON as well, so Verizon's choice will produce clear market dominance. Tal Liani and Vivek Arya of Merrill, who broke the story, noted that Flexlight and Optical Solutions are already on the market with GPON. For more than a year, Jim Sackman of AFC/Tellabs has been discussing GPON designs, and AFC, Verizon's key fiber supplier, will surely be ready on Verizon's schedule.

"Why delay 18 months?" I had asked, because first comments the switch would be late 2006 or early 2007. That's 3 or 4 million BPON ports from now, a long throw. The reply came from Verizon that they have checked with the supply chain and hope to begin the switch earlier, targeting April 2006. FlexLight is already shipping GPON systems at 2.4/1.2 gig for fiber to the business and basement, a related market with some similar requirements. China Netcom and Mediacom already deploy FlexLight. " [ more... ]

Narrowstep To Introduce The TelVOS OS at NAB

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 22:54:24 GMT

Narrowstep Inc, creators of TV Station in a Box, which enables content owners and narrowcasters to create their own IPTV networks over broadband, will introduce the TelVOS operating system at the National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB) in Vegas (April 18-21).

To demonstrate the power of the system, Shelly Palmer, Chairman of the Emmy Advanced Media Committee and 1st Vice President of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences NY, will be narrowcasting his daily video blog from Narrowstep’s broadcast room in iShow’s NextGen Demonstration Home, located in the Silver Lot at the main entrance to NAB. The vlog can be viewed at www.NABvlog.tv through the Narrowstep website www.narrowstep.com

TelVOS is a comprehensive platform for the development and deployment of IPTV services to mobile phones , wireless devices, point of sale, point of information, broadband TV and broadcast. [ more... ]

ANT - trying not to be tiny in a big IPTV world

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 19:48:03 GMT

Any company calling itself ANT is bound to have to put up with comments about its size, but despite its dominance of the IP set top browser market, the company cite very small.

This is best illustrated by the fact that last year the market for IPTV was, according to sales and marketing director, Stephen Reeder, only 1m devices.

At maybe $2 on average per browser installed, that’s just $2m in browser sales, and given that ANT wracked up 720,000 of these sales, a neat 72 per cent of the market, it must have made under $1.5m in revenue on browser sales.

In fact ANT’s entire revenues for 2004 were only revealed a few days after it went public last month, at £2.2m ($4.1m) and growing at roughly 25 per cent per annum since last year. Perhaps ANT is aptly named since it is usually other companies that get the credit for the simple, but important job it carries out in the IPTV food chain. [ more... ]

Siemens acquires leading IPTV software company Myrio

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 15:27:20 GMT

Increased commitment in the Home Entertainment growth market

Siemens has signed a contract with the US company Myrio Corporation, headquartered near Seattle, to acquire the business. Myrio specializes in middleware and applications for Home Entertainment (HE) solutions, which includes components to create a compelling consumer experience and provide network operators with the management systems for pricing, packaging and applications development.

The acquisition means that Siemens will now further enable network service providers to deploy integrated Home Entertainment solutions as part of a growing set of products and services.

According to market researchers, home entertainment is among the fastest growing consumer market segments. The business centers on new applications for the television, and the expanding interaction with other devices and media forms in the home. These include interactive television with option for calling up movies, personal video recording services, online services, and communication applications such as Multimedia Messaging Service, Short Messaging Services and video telephony. Market analysts estimate the pote ntial for advanced video services, including: video telephony, audio, video and games on demand – in excess of 20 billion euros by 2006. Siemens is already a market leader as a system supplier and integrator, winning customers in Europe (Belgacom) and Asia (ADC Thailand). [ more... ]

Improvements in MPEG-2 Compression, the Introduction of MPEG-4, Newer Windows Media Technologies and FTTP Technologies Will Drive Service Revenue Alone to Over $10.2 billion by 2007

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 20:21:22 GMT

Research and Markets has announced the addition of IP TV Business Case and Global Forecast 2004 - 2007 to their offering.

The next year will see significant growth in the DSL sector, as Asia and Europe push forward with new broadband infrastructures, including IP-TV (Internet Protocol TV) services. Improvements in MPEG-2 compression, the introduction of MPEG-4, newer Windows Media technologies, and the prominent role of ADSL2+ and FTTP (Fiber to the Premise) technologies will drive service revenue alone to over $10.2 billion by 2007, up from $398 million in 2003.

With Asian and European regions in buildup mode, North American telecommunications and data providers are now working towards similar plans for IP TV. The new report IP TV Business Case and Global Forecast 2004 - 2007, examines the current and future global and domestic trends in the IP-based video services market." [ more... ]

Widevine(R) Technologies Selected for ChungHwa Telecom IPTV Subscriber Expansion

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 20:13:20 GMT

Widevine® Technologies, the most widely deployed provider of content security solutions to the video over IP market, today announced that it has signed an Agreement to secure video distribution for Taiwan's state-owned ChungHwa Telecom with Widevine Cypher®, a comprehensive conditional access and digital rights management solution. Cypher supports ChungHwa's ambitious expansion of its Interactive TV service called Multimedia on Demand (MOD).

ChungHwa Telecom's MOD project, one of the largest IPTV deployments in the world, offers True Video-on-Demand (TVOD), Near VOD (NVOD), Karaoke-on-Demand and linear broadcast channels. Its MOD expansion project will add another 500,000 subscribers to the current MOD subscriber base.

The MOD expansion project will feature two additional head ends. For the project, Widevine will deploy with two middleware providers -- Orca and Alcatel -- and four set-top boxes from three manufacturers: Pace, Foxcom and Hwacom/Setabox. [ more... ]

IPTV's Revolution May Be on Hold

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 14:37:14 GMT

Because IPTV uses huge centralized servers to deliver video into consumers' homes, it can support a nearly unlimited number of channels and allow customers to pick from an à la carte channel selection. It can even offer multiple camera angles for sporting events and make thousands of old movies, TV shows, and events available "on demand" at the push of the button.

IPTV differs from earlier forms of Internet-based TV in that, while the video signal is encoded just like data over the Web, it travels solely over SBC's own servers and network. Viewers will find the experience akin to watching digital cable, rather than streaming video on the Web.

But improvements like these can happen only if content providers -- media companies and movie studios like Disney -- play along. So far, it seems, they're not. Disney didn't return calls from BusinessWeek Online seeking comment, and it hasn't signed with any outside distributor to provide its movies for video-on-demand. Most studios have agreed to only limited video-on-demand distribution, fearing it could cut into revenues from rentals and DVD sales -- now generating bigger income streams than the box office itself. [ more... ]

Orca Interactive Announces Integration with Amdocs IP Convergence Solution for IPTV

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 14:35:12 GMT

Orca Interactive (LSE:ORCA - News), today announced that it has integrated its RiGHTv(TM) IPTV middleware applications with Amdocs IP Convergence Solution for IPTV. The Amdocs IPTV solution combines the Amdocs 6 portfolio of integrated, modular products, enabling service providers to accelerate the implementation of an integrated customer management strategy for emerging IPTV services.

The offering will combine Amdocs IPTV solution with Orca's IPTV applications such as broadcast TV over IP, VOD (Video-on-Demand), NVOD (Near Video-on-Demand), PVR (Personal Video Recording), pay-per-view, and other interactive services. As a result of this integration, service providers can simplify the entire customer experience and reduce time to market of new services, while creating the customer-centric environment needed to attract high-value customers. [ more... ]

Microsoft Delivers Power of Connected Services Framework to Broadcast and Film Industries

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:48:51 GMT

Microsoft Corp. today announced it is extending the Microsoft® Connected Services Framework to organizations in the broadcast and film industries. The Connected Services Framework, an integrated, server-based software solution, enables broadcast companies and film studios to streamline the creation, management and delivery of digital content. The product has gained broad industry support because Microsoft is collaborating with leading companies such as Avid Technology Inc., North Plains Systems Corp., OmniBus Systems, Panasonic and Telestream Inc. to offer a comprehensive solution with Connected Services Framework at the core.

"The Microsoft Connected Services Framework is already generating tremendous excitement among customers and partners in the film and broadcast industries," said Maria Martinez, corporate vice president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "To maintain a competitive edge in this era of transformation, broadcasters and film studios must embrace innovative technology to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and generate new revenue opportunities. With the Connected Services Framework and the combined efforts of our industry partners, Microsoft offers a compelling solution that enables companies to foster innovation and collaboration, enhance internal operations and easily adapt to growth and change." [ more... ]

Bell TV - Verizon Exec: 'We'll be a bargain'

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:44:51 GMT

The New York Times (registration required) is running a piece on SBC and Verizon's IPTV plans and the challenges they face. No real details on pricing, though a Verizon executive in the piece says "we'll be a bargain, make no doubt about it." Worth reading if you haven't: Light Reading's trip to SBC labs (with an inside glimpse at U-Verse) and our rundown of each Bell plan. [ more... ]

Europe Tunes In to IPTV (light reading)

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:41:42 GMT

While this week's NCTA 2005 show in San Francisco is already attracting a lot of attention and generating a lot of news, across the Atlantic the telco video market is hotting up. (See Arris Struts at NCTA , Tut Wins Kansas IPTV Deal , Cox Plans to Launch Interactive TV , RGB Teams Up With Motorola , Arroyo Intros 'Always ON' VOD , and BigBand Enhances Cable Gear .)

More and more European service providers are latching on to TV and video services as a way to attract broadband customers and fend off competitors, and they are now moving quickly to deploy the required equipment and roll out services. [ more... ]

Coaxsys Launches Next Generation Cable- and Satellite-Compatible Home Networking Products

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:35:49 GMT

Coaxsys Incorporated launched its new cable- and satellite-compatible home networking products at the CableNet Pavilion in San Francisco on April 3-5. The company currently offers a IPTV network to telcos that distribute video, voice, and data throughout homes. [ more... ]

Golden Belt Telephone Selects Tut Systems IPTV Solution

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:28:18 GMT

Yesterday Tut Systems, Inc. announced that Golden Belt Telephone Association of Rush Center, Kansas, has deployed its Astria® digital headend solution for delivering IPTV services over their xDSL network. [ more... ]

Cable Big Wigs Meet, Say consolidation, regulation on the way

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:27:02 GMT

The cable industry will gather this week to discuss a number of things, like DOCSIS 3.0, and how best to counter the bell fiber, VDSL, and IPTV plans. The consensus among the carriers (so says Reuters) seems to be that after the Adelphia sale there will be a new wave of consolidation, followed by a new wave of tougher regulation. Of course the biggest thing on cable's mind is the Brand-X decision, which is supported by the bells and could open their networks to competitors. [ more... ]

IMAKE Launches OpenVision Software Suite for Video On Demand and IPTV

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:22:43 GMT

IMAKE’s new OpenVision product suite will be demonstrated at booth 5164 at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) show on April 3-5 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The OpenVision software suite is based on IMAKE’s successful software suite called e.merge, which currently supports over 20 million cable subscribers and ingests over 2,500 hours of content per month. OpenVision adds an enhanced level of intelligence to the network to reduce errors, maximize productivity, and enable a new level of control and automation. OpenVision automatically ensures that content and metadata is properly encoded and verifies the adherence to business rules, policies, and procedures. OpenVision’s intelligent features and automated workflows manage the entire back-office process and help VOD and IPTV providers simplify the complex process of VOD service delivery. [ more... ]

Optibase Delivers IPTV in Vietnam

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 15:19:16 GMT

Yesterday Optibase announced that FPT communications, Vietnam's leading Internet Service Provider (ISP), has chosen the Optibase MGW 1100 Media Gateway to launch a new live television streaming service to its DSL subscribers.

By capitalizing on technologies such as MPEG compression, IP Video streaming and xDSL, ISPs can offer cable-like digital television services to drive their business expansion. The addition of broadcast television to the scope of offerings yields higher monthly revenues for the ISP and is more cost-effective for both the ISP and the subscriber in that it utilizes the service provider's existing broadband copper and fiber infrastructure.

[ more... ]