Cable TV

TiVo doesn't fear RS-DVR ruling

Dan O'Shea — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:24:15 -0400

DVR pioneer TiVo reported a quarterly profit this week for only the third time in the company's history. It posted $2.9 million in net income, far better than last year's same-quarter loss of $17.7 million. But, are TiVo's prospects for future success limited by the recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling supporting the efforts of cable TV firms and telcos to operate remote storage-DVR? Not surprisingly, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers doesn't think so, and suggests that the legal fight over RS-DVR between the entertainment and telecommunications industries is far from over.

RS-DVR is also called network DVR, but the heart of the case was Cablevision's RS-DVR service. RS-DVR would seem to limit TiVo's appeal as a storage device, though if TiVo maintains strong ties with network operators, its device could have a prominent role opening a window to a new world of video storage. The company is maintaining the case won't have an effect either way. In any case, Rogers may be right about the issue not being finished yet. Hollywood TV and movie studios had sued Cablevision to stop the storage of copyrighted content on its network, and since the ruling, industry watchers have been expecting the Hollywood forces to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. That has not happened yet, but network operators haven't been rushing to release RS-DVR offerings either.

For more:
- read this story at Light Reading's Cable Digital News
- see this Associated Press story

Could U-verse face a second-half slowdown?

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:31:38 -0400

All eyes in the telecom industry seem to be on AT&T, as the telco is set to report second quarter earnings tomorrow. AT&T of course has not said much, but numerous analysts and media outlets are anticipating the telco will report accelerated landline loss. It remains to be seen whether AT&T will keep up its past pattern of posting strong subscriber additions for its IPTV service, but some observers are forecasting that AT&T may slow roll-out progress and spending on its U-verse network for the rest of this year. Tune back in to FierceIPTV later this week for a closer look at AT&T's IPTV progress.

For more:
- check out this coverage at Light Reading

Related articles:
AT&T added 148,000 U-verse TV customers in the first quarter. AT&T report
AT&T still is considered a cable TV provider in Connecticut. AT&T report

Verizon continues analog phase-out

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:50:06 -0400

Verizon Communications earlier this year began the process of phasing out analog broadcast in some of its East Coast markets. On July 21, Maryland and Northern Virginia will be added to the program, which already has seen Verizon stop using analog signals for its FiOS TV services in New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York.

The telco informed the Federal Communications Commission last year that it would eliminate analog channel delivery in advance of the agency's all-digital mandate set to take effect in February 2009. The move allowed the telco to qualify for a waiver on deploying set-top boxes with embedded security functions.

For more:
- see this post at Multichannel News

Related articles:
The digital TV transition may help cable TV providers competitively. Digital TV report
Verizon phased out analog transmission in New York in April. Verizon report

North America IPTV not yet eating from satellite's dish

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:21:00 -0400

While IPTV growth was very strong in North America last year, telcos offering IPTV are not yet taking a significant number of customers away from satellite TV companies, according to market research firm iSuppli. A few telcos, notably AT&T, have had resale relationships with satellite companies that might have driven them to be more careful not to compete with satellite in the past, though the more likely reasons for this lack of IPTV-satellite competition could be that IPTV has not yet extended into markets where satellite adoption has been particularly strong. Case in point: I live in a neighborhood in Chicago where satellite dishes seemingly out-number houses. You can always tell when there is some local interference because half the neighborhood emerges from their homes armed with tools to bang on and re-position their gear. AT&T's U-verse TV service, in any case, is not yet widely available in this particular area, but I have to believe the satellite firms will not rule this area for much longer.

iSuppli shows that while IPTV subscribership actually almost quadrupled last year in North America to reach 1.2 million, many of those subscribers were net addition to the pay TV market as a whole, rather than stolen from satellite (though a couple of cable TV firms and telcos have indicated cable companies didn't get off so easily). Satellite TV adoption continues to grow in North America, iSuppli says, but for how much longer?

For more:
- check out this post at IPTV News

Related articles:
IPTV revenues in the U.S. alone reportedly could hits $14 billion by 2012 IPTV revenue report
The European IPTV market is in the process of doubling by next year European IPTV report

FCC ruling hurts U.S. telcos

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:42:30 -0400

Telcos have been gaining video customers lately, with an increasing number of them coming at the expense of cable TV companies. Meanwhile, the cable guys have been effective stealing voice customers from telcos. Heading into the second half of this year, you can likely expect both sectors to toughen up on their efforts to retain what they have been losing.

However, a ruling that occurred late last Friday at the Federal Communications Commission may ensure that telcos have a more difficult retention challenge ahead of them than do the cable TV firms. The FCC ruled that Verizon Communications, which had been accused by cable TV companies of unfair competitive practices, is not allowed to use information about its customers who were in the process of switching to cable voice in order to woo them back to Verizon before they make the switch. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Brighthouse Networks said Verizon had been doing just that.

The regulations leave not only Verizon, but all telcos offering cable-like TV or IPTV in a tough spot because such information privacy rules have not traditionally been applied to the cable TV video business. For now, there appears to be a double-standard at work that favors the traditional cable TV players. Regulators should not just bend to the whim of a powerful telco like Verizon--they have already done that far too often--but neither can they responsibly allow one set of competitive marketing standards to be applied to one side of the telecom industry and not the other. The eventual ripple effect of this ruling could be felt in even the smallest markets, where an independent telco's chief rival for all services might not be another telco, but Comcast.

Telcos may have just been getting used to the Wild West mode of competitive behavior that has characterized the cable TV industry for years. Now, they need to watch their backs while having their ammunition rationed. --Dan

For more:
- read this report at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles:
The FCC has taken heat over cable TV issues before FCC report
FCC Chairman Martin was FierceTelecom's 2007 Person of the Year FCC report

Telekom Austria doing HD, time-shifting

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:10:52 -0400

Telekom Austria is making an IPTV push, upgrading its aonTV service with the help of Alcatel-Lucent to offer time-shifted TV and HDTV capabilities. The telco also is working on expanding availability of the service throughout this year, as it is currently available only to slightly more than 50 percent of the country, according to TeleGeography. Most of the deployments have been over ADSL2+ in urban areas and, thus far, Telekom Austria has made no commitment to use fiber-to-the-home to reach into less dense markets, despite major competition from incumbent cable TV and satellite TV players.

For more:
- read this post at TeleGeography
- here's more about Telekom Austria's approach from a story last fall at Telecommunications

Related article:
Telekom Austria's global IPTV ranking Telekom Austria IPTV report

AT&T seeks more info on Connecticut consent ruling

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:04:44 -0400

AT&T is requesting clarification from the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control following the agency's ruling that AT&T must obtain retroactive consent from homeowners whose property abuts areas where the telco is deploying outdoor IPTV access nodes. AT&T's request comes nearly a full week after the five-page ruling issued by the DPUC, and AT&T already has said it will comply with the agency's rules. So, it is either checking to make sure it does everything to the letter, or else it is just making sure there is not a loophole to be exploited (We're kidding, sort of).

AT&T already notifies residents of equipment deployments in their area, and it is unclear what would happen if a property owner whose property lies next to one of the telco's video-ready access devices suddenly says it is not OK for the VRAD to be there. How long before one neighbor who is tired of cable TV sues another for the right to have a VRAD planted nearby? Furthermore, how much of a crimp will it put in AT&T's deployment process if more regulators from more states follow Connecticut's example?

The action came after folks in a few communities in Connecticut objected to the VRAD deployments, but the DPUC's action sets the precedent for states to have some kind of authority along with municipalities (The word choice is purely ours-that is one of the areas in which AT&T is seeking clarification) over how the gear gets deployed. AT&T has had problems with the Connecticut DPUC before. The agency last fall said AT&T was operating as a video provider in the state illegally without a video franchise, but the DPUC was later ordered by a state superior court to give the telco a franchise.

For more:
- see this story at Multichannel News

Related articles:
AT&T criticized over U-verse deployment AT&T report
AT&T had to replace batteries in many deployed VRADs because of fire threat. AT&T report

Verizon in no rush to change from RF to IPTV

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:56:23 -0400

Verizon Communications often gets lumped in with the IPTV crowd (especially by me. I'll admit) even though the technology it uses to deliver TV services is actually a cable TV-like RF broadcast overlay. I sometimes have made mention of the distinction, but other times have used IPTV as a catch-all term to describe Verizon and other companies, when what I really meant was "telco TV." In some way, I was going by the old adage that the technology type does not matter to the customer. But, of course, it does matter in this venue, so I'm turning over a new leaf and will be careful not to describe Verizon as an IPTV service provider.

I mention all of this because Verizon is saying it intends to stick with RFTV for now, and is in no hurry to make a transition to IPTV. Proponents of IPTV always have touted greater interactive capabilities and superior bandwidth as the benefits of IP over RF architectures, but as the leading "telco TV" player, Verizon does not appear to be hurting for either. For more, see this story at Light Reading

Cable show: Interactive ads need more time, Canoe awaits chief

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:59:35 -0400

At The Cable Show-otherwise known as the National Cable & Telecommunication Association's annual trade show in New Orleans, cable TV players have been discussing the value and challenges inherent in implementing interactive advertising through the industry-wide Project Canoe initiative. The project is still in it early phases, and one piece of news out of The Cable Show is that a chief executive will be named for Project Canoe on June 1. Meanwhile, the industry continues to test interactive ads, and despite broad interest, real world deployments are not likely in the short-term.

For more:
- read this story at Multichannel News

Related articles:
- The Canoe project made some progress earlier this year. Canoe report

Sezmi aims to redefine TV service models

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:50 -0400

For those of you who heard about Sezmi Corp. while walking around the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas last month, and didn't recognize the name, the company is actually video wholesaler Building B re-launched as an online video/broadcast/IPTV aggregator of sorts. After announcing initial partnerships with Sun Microsystems and Harris at NAB, Sezmi is now talking about further details of its FlexCast video distribution system. FlexCast leverages existing digital TV spectrum and home broadband connections such as DSL to deliver content to a Sezmi receiver, which also collects digital TV content, local broadcast content and other Internet-based content, stores all that content, and presents to users in organized, recommendation-based menus.

Some observers are calling Sezmi's approach confusing, while also calling it a competitive threat to cable TV and satellite TV companies. However, it is also a challenge to the strategies telcos have used to deploy IPTV, relying more on existing broadband conduits than new fiber investment. Sezmi also is trying to provide an answer to one of the key questions that next-generation TV service providers continue to struggle with-how to collect, maintain and present video content from as many sources as possible. It's now up to broadband service providers who haven't yet committed to massive TV investments to decide if it's the right answer.

For more:
- read this story at Telephony

Related article:
- Sezmi predecessor Building B initially launched last summer. Sezmi report