U.S. IPTV install times worst in world

How many technicians does it take to install IPTV in a household in North America? Sound like a bad joke? Well, the punchline isn't very funny either: Just one, but it takes about 5.16 hours, the slowest install time in the world, according to a study distributed by Research and Markets.
 
Overall install times across Asia, Europe and North America come in at 3.79 hours from curb to the third STB. For one-STB homes, the install time was 2.25 hours.
 
Analyst Gary Schultz said North American install times are coming down, but that they take longer because there are more new operators and they're offering more--like triple play services of voice, video and data or, at a minimum, a dual play of high-speed data and video--which adds to the overall install time.
 
"Another thing that increases the time is if you use wireline versus 802.11 or powerline, it is going to take you longer to set it up," Schultz said. "Europe tends to use more powerline type networking, which means their install numbers are lower. Also, level of experience--how long have you been doing it? If you are an operator that's just starting out, your times are going to be way up there. If you've been doing this for three to six years as a lot of these European and some Asian installations have been doing, that is going to be knocking your times down, because you'll get a lot better at it."
 
For more on IPTV install times:
- Read the article in Telephonyonline
- Or the release from Research and Markets

Related article:
Simplicity is key to IPTV deployment in U.S.