IPTV Evolution

TiVo, Amazon tackle TV/Web integration

Dan O'Shea — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:18:24 -0400

IPTV service providers, cable TV companies and many different kinds of set-top device and online companies are trying to figure out how to merge online video and TV content and viewing practices, and TiVo and Amazon separately announced offerings this week that take the evolution a little further. TiVo is now offering YouTube through newer TiVO hardware, and Amazon announced plans for a new online video-on-demand store.

The future evolution of set-top boxes like TiVo DVRs has been in question, but TiVo is looking to cement its place on the TV stand by tackling the online video/TV integration with a large, known player while some IPTV service providers are still approaching the integration tentatively. Meanwhile, Amazon possibly learned a few things from its unloved Unbox venture about how to more efficiently make movies and TV content available online. These moves bear watching for any TV service provider feeling pressure to incorporate online content, while wondering how such ventures from giant online retailers and well-known device companies could affect their bottom lines.

For more:
- see this post about TiVo at Wired News Blogs
- read this story about Amazon at The New York Times

Related article:
Online TV growth could affect the success of IPTV. Online TV report

Russia's Corbina aims for mid-year IPTV launch

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:57:13 -0400

Russia's Corbina Telecom, a subsidiary of wireless and wireline carrier giant VimpelCom, is planning to launch a Corbina TV IPTV service in Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The launch will begin in the middle of this year. Corbina Telecom has teamed up with Microsoft and will deploy the software firm's Mediaroom IPTV platform, becoming the first carrier in Russia to use the Microsoft platform. Corbina also will use set-top boxes from Motorola. The service provider will offer both standard and high-definition content, and is looking to package Corbina TV with a triple-play service offering.

Meanwhile, despite rapid growth of pay TV options in Eastern Europe, a new study from Research and Markets suggests IPTV platforms will have a tough time finding traction. The study says that by 2012 IPTV platforms will account for less than 3 percent of the homes in the region.

For more:
- check out this Corbina coverage at IPTV News
- and this post on the new study at IPTV news

Related articles:
A 2007 report ranked Russia in the Top 10 IPTV markets Russian IPTV report
Russia has previously been assumed to be a difficult market for IPTV Russia report

Verizon posts 263K TV customer boost

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

Verizon Communications this week reported a 9.8% increase in profit for the first quarter of 2008. Verizon said net income totaled $1.64 billion, with revenue rising about 5.5%. Much of the growth came from Verizon Wireless, but Verizon FiOS TV service continue to be secondary source of strength. The telco reported that FiOS TV subscribers increased by 263,000 FiOS TV customers during the quarter, giving a total of about 1.2 million TV customers.

AT&T last week reported it had gained about 148,000 U-verse TV customers, so the two largest telcos won over more than 400,000 TV customers in the first three months of this year. That can't be good news for a cable TV industry that has been knocked around competitively by AT&T and Verizon since last year.

For more:
- see this story at The Wall Street Journal
- and this blog post at ZDNet.com

Related articles:
AT&T last week reported 148,000 new IPTV customers. AT&T report
Verizon hits 1 million FiOS subscriber mark Verizon report

Synergy sees IPTV gear spending up 47%

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:59:20 -0400

Synergy Research Group reported that sales of IPTV equipment worldwide rose about 47% during 2007. SRG said that Cisco Systems was the chief beneficiary of that spending, receiving about 59% of all IPTV-related carrier capital spending globally. Alcatel-Lucent received about 13% and Motorola about 11%. With carriers like Verizon Communications, AT&T, TeliaSonera and others still adding hundreds of thousands of new IPTV subscribers every quarter, market confidence is increasing and carriers continue to buy more gear to continue rapid expansion.

For more:
- read this report at IPTV News

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IPTV households worldwide number 14 million IPTV report
U.S. IPTV market to grow to $14 billion by 2012 Report
Euro IPTV growth driven by local loop access Report
Top European IPTV drivers Report

TMG sees 60 million IPTV subs by 2010

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:59:30 -0400

Telecommunications Management Network Group put out the a market study showing that there were about 9.9 million IPTV subscribers worldwide at the end of 2007. But, the truly explosive growth is about to happen, according to TMG. The agency is forecasting 500 percent growth over the next two years, allowing worldwide IPTV subscribers to reach 60 million in 2010. There have been several recent IPTV market research reports, and everyone is putting out somewhat different numbers. For example, Parks Associates recently said current sign-ups worldwide are closer to 14 million. Place your bets.

For more:
- check out this coverage at IPTV News

Related articles:
- Parks Associates just tallied about 14 million IPTV subscribers. Parks Associates report
- Global IPTV market leaders. IPTV report

180Squared Launches Mediaroom Interface

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

A team of former Microsoft Mediaroom engineers now known as 180Squared has announced the availability of 180Squared Framework, an encapsulation interface into Mediaroom middleware for existing billing/operational support system (B/OSS) applications and emerging third-party software. The company is leveraging expertise developed at Microsoft to now help carriers maximize the profitability of their Mediaroom service.

Key benefits of the 180Squared Framework include a standard interface for 180Squared and third-party application development, monitoring the health and traffic flow of Mediaroom services and applications to ensure proper load balancing and prevent service degradation, and reduction in capital expenses and operational costs for implementing Mediaroom.

180Squared cites a big market for their product, with global IPTV subscriber rates expected to reach over 72 million in 2011, while Bill Gates predicated Mediaroom would reach 1 million global subscribers in the first quarter of 2008 as service providers turn up two new Microsoft Mediaroom customer households every minute. 180Squared intends to cash in on this market by helping carriers with IPTV planning and design, customization, integration and their fancy new software.

For more:
- Find the original press release here.
- Play the "Top 4 Reasons for the 180Squared Framework" YouTube video here.

Related articles:
Mediaroom enters TV streaming war
Microsoft's new IPTV brand: Mediaroom

Portugal Telecom CEO Predicts Q1 IPTV growth will surprise

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:59:20 -0400

Recently appointed Portugal Telecom CEO Zeinal Bava says investors should expect "positive surprises" in subscriber numbers for the group's IPTV business for the first quarter of the year. Speaking at a press conference at the launch of the telco's new satellite TV service, Bava said, "The numbers for the first quarter in terms of net additions will surprise the market and everyone." PT is targeting its IPTV service to be available to 90 percent of the Portuguese population by the end of 2008.

For more:
- Forbes.com release is here
- Portugal Telecom's website

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U.S. IPTV install times worst in world

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:59:40 -0400

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.

Korean telecoms plan $15.8 billion outlay for IPTV in 2008

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:59:20 -0400

Korea's three biggest telecoms say they'll to spend upward of $15.8 billion on IPTV this year, nearly 68 percent of which will be used to expand and improve broadband networks, the Korea Times reports. KT, the country's largest telephone and broadband player, will pay the biggest portion, about $12.42 billion.

Officials said the nascent industry should see revenues this year of about $5.43 billion from some 2 million customers; officials say they expect the industry to top 3.3 million users by 2012.

For more:
- Read the Korea Times story

Related articles:
U.S. IPTV market to grow to $14 billion by 2012
Global IPTV to see 52 percent annual growth through 2012

Global IPTV to see 52% annual growth through 2012

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:59:50 -0400

Global IPTV subscriptions should top 65 million by 2012, a staggering leap from the 13 million households worldwide that currently are receiving broadcast via the Internet, says a new report from IMS Research, IPTV: A Global Market Analysis - 2008. Analyst Shane Walker writes that the 52 percent annual growth in the market will be driven by several factors including:

Growing offerings by tier one and rural telcos in the Americas;
A more competitive pay-TV market that's offering more localized content and triple- and quadruple-play offerings as well as new Internet-based TV services like VOD;
An exploding market in Asia as China and South Korea uptake IPTV at an accelerating pace with the easing of government restrictions, and
A continuation of the solid growth the European market has seen as IPTV providers continue to invest heavily in infrastructure and speed upgrades.

Shipment of stand-alone set-top boxes will grow to 21 million from the 4.7 million set out in 2006, with hybrid STBs, particularly satellite/IP boxes, seeing even more rapid deployment to the tune of 39 million units in 2012, Walker predicts.

Much of the growth, said Walker, will be the result of falling prices for STBs, as chipmakers integrate multiple codecs into single chips, competition, bandwidth upgrades and an evolving consumer base that will move away from DVD to HD boxes. Increasingly, HD boxes utilizing the MPEG-4 AVC codec will replace older SD boxes. MPEG-4 AVC is also being incorporated immediately into many new deployments, and MPEG-2 IP STB shipments are forecast to begin decreasing in 2010.

Telcos are pushing forward in the digital TV market as they see triple- and quadruple-play offerings from cable and satellite companies reduce churn and eat into the telcos' traditional voice business. Walker said telcos increasingly believe their best defense against the erosion of their market share is to offer their own bundled offerings, including IPTV. And, he said, that will push price points even further down.

For more:
- Get the entire report from IMS Research

Related articles:
U.S. IPTV market to grow to $14 billion by 2012 Report
Euro IPTV growth driven by local loop access Report
Top European IPTV drivers Report
Telcos to change IPTV tactics Report