IPTV Europe

BT exec defends IPTV progress

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:07:42 -0500

BT Vision chief Dan Marks, in an interview with London's Daily Telegraph, lashed out against criticism of the telco IPTV offering's pace of progress. BT Vision has about 350,000 U.K. customers after about two years, which is more than many initial cable TV offerings had after the same time period, but the pace of adoption has been slower than that of newer IPTV services in some other countries. It's possible Marks was responding to harsh accusations about the service's success, but with Tiscali shutting down its IPTV service in Italy, IPTV adoption numbers throughout the world are likely to be put under the microscope by industry observers.

Doubling the pressure for BT Vision is the fact that BT has experienced a tough year or so full of management shifts, restructuring and ongoing job cuts. Despite these troubles, Marks told the Telegraph that BT doesn't have any plans to cut its investment in BT Vision.

For more:
- Telepgraph.co.uk has the interview

Tiscali powers down IPTV service

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:46:56 -0500

Italian service provider Tiscali was planning as of last week to shut down its IPTV service in its home country on Dec. 31. The company sent a letter to its roughly 50,000 subscribers in late December saying the service would shut down at the end of the month. Not much further detail was available. Tiscali, which also operates an IPTV service in the U.K., had signed an agreement with Cisco Systems less than three months ago to have the vendor supply it with additional video gear. However, Tiscali also reportedly had been trying to sell some assets, including its IPTV operations, during the course of 2008. Additionally, it was a later entrant in the Italian market after IPTV pioneer FastWeb and incumbent national telco Telecom Italia. Wind Telecommunications is yet another competitor in Italy.

The ending of the service certainly could be viewed only as a consequence of one company's numerous challenges. But, with Tiscali's move and the recent announcement by SES Americom that it is shutting down its IP-Prime wholesale service, the IPTV sector will be worth watching closely in the first half of 2009 to see if negative feelings about the market opportunity become a growing trend.

For more:
- roadbandTV News has this post

2008 Year in Review: Market metrics present and future

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:26:01 -0500

Ongoing subscriber growth gave the world's IPTV service providers plenty to cheer about in 2008, so it's no surprise that several of FierceIPTV's most-viewed stories in 2008 revolved around market research and predictions related to subscriber numbers and revenue for the sector. In March, Strategy Analytics said U.S. IPTV revenue hit $694 million in 2007, but was expected to soar to $14 billion by 2012. ABI Research that some month said a worldwide subscriber tally of 13 million in 2007 would jump to 90 million subscribers by 2013. Most of the growth up to this year was coming from Western Europe, and while that certainly continues to be true, the U.S. market, China and other Asian markets, and a few Latin America countries are starting to get in on the act.

Of course, a wide variety of numbers from a wide variety of sources came out throughout the year, some more impressive and hopeful than others, and many market research firms continue to revise their predictions on a quarterly basis. Can the global IPTV market keep up with the optimistic expectations we all had earlier this year? The U.S. market's emergence in 2008 and specifically the huge subscriber growth from IPTV giant AT&T and top U.S. telco TV player Verizon Communications have been very encouraging. Just last week, AT&T hit its goal of signing up 1 million U-verse TV customers by the end of this year. However, 2008 is ending on a note of caution. The economic crisis has given us reason to expect slower adoption, or at least slower build-outs. We should know much more in earlier 2009 as service providers report their fourth quarter subscriber numbers and year-end financial results.

App Opp is Apple's and Orange's

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:44:41 -0500

France Telecom's Orange reportedly is interested in developing an iTunes like application store for content that could be played on a variety of devices, including TVs, personal computers and mobile devices. If you are an iPod or iPhone user, you can get TV content and other video content from the iTunes online store that will play on your handheld devices or on your PC, but so far, household TVs and set-top boxes have mostly been left out of the equation. And while IPTV service providers have started to express an interested in content sharing and the leveraging of online video sources, their retail sales philosophies have not yet wandered beyond their own direct marketing, brick-and-mortar stores, or partnerships with big-box retailers.

Orange's idea, reported at Telecoms.com, sounds like a pretty ambitious one-to create an open applications store, a distinctly un-Apple concept. The carrier will be holding a partner camp next week at Cape Canaveral in Florida, at which it will give further shape to the idea. It could be a huge, long-range project, taking up to two years to create and even longer to solidify in the minds of potential customers.

It's a project that most U.S. IPTV players would not want to pursue at this point because their IPTV acceptance, while strong, has not yet matured. Also, while a big telco like AT&T recently has made strides to portray itself as a convergent service provider, service convergence is a concept still in its infancy in the U.S. Orange doesn't have those weaknesses, being part of a company with both a mature, multi-country TV offering and an established fixed-mobile converged service strategy.

Still, that doesn't guarantee Orange's success in this endeavor. Apple has yet to conquer the TV world the way it has the world of walled-garden content for its own multimedia players, but neither have traditional telecom players, despite their ability to support massive customer bases, taken much of a bite out of Apple's core strength.

-Dan

For more:
- Telecoms.com has the full report

BT aims for linear, OTT programming

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:47:39 -0500

U.K. telco giant BT has not necessarily been among the leaders in the worldwide IPTV arena, but the company is set to embrace both linear programming and over-the-top video distribution as part of its BT Vision service, according to a post at IPTV News which attributes the source as Informa Telecoms & Media.

BT Vision currently has 340,000 subscribers for video-on-demand services. Earlier this month, the telco signed an on-demand content deal with Twentieth Century Fox.

For more:
- IPTV News has this post

DT sees 3Q IPTV subscriber jump

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:06:35 -0500

Germany's Deutsche Telekom is not often mentioned among Europe's IPTV leaders, but the telco reported a 33 percent jump in IPTV orders during the third quarter, and now has about 333,000 customer orders total for its Entertain IPTV service. About 257,000 customers actually had service activated at the end of the third quarter. DT is aiming to get 500,000 customers signed up by the end of this year.

For a telco that experienced delays launching the service in 2006 and fell behind competitor HanseNet, DT's IPTV efforts have definitely picked up steam. Still, to put DT's IPTV numbers in perspective, France Telecom's Orange has about 1.5 million TV customers in France and about 1.7 million TV customers total in Europe.

For more:
- Light Reading has this story

BT, Comtrend recharge IPTV contract

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:22:27 -0400

U.K. telco giant BT will continue working with broadband-over-powerline technology supplier Comtrend, after renewing its existing contract with the vendor to support its BT Vision IPTV service. When deployed to a household, the service, according to IPTV News, uses two Comtrend Power Grid 902 adapters, pre-configured for plug-and-play home networking, that provide a local network bridge between the BT Home Hub router and the service's V-Box set-top appliance. One of the adapters plugs into the power outlet nearest the BT Home Hub, and the other goes into the power outlet nearest the set-top box. The solution supports maximum bandwidth of 200 Mbps.

For more:
- IPTV News has this post

IPTV to the aged

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:04:16 -0400

There are some who bemoan IPTV as still being nothing more than a me-too cable TV service, but U.K. company Broadband Capital is working with the U.K. City of Hull on a unique market opportunity--or at least one we haven't seen any other IPTV operators pursue. The company's Stream IPTV is delivering an IPTV service package aimed at residents who are 55 years old or older, with funding from the Hull City Council.

The program is intended to encourage independent living by presenting a TV package that includes local information, e-mail, low-impact exercise programs, crime prevention advice and other applications. It is available now in about 100 households in Hull, with expansion to as many as 5,000 home expected over the next 12 months.

Telephony notes that Hull has now had IPTV service for about 10 years. U.K. telco giant BT only has just begun in the IPTV business, but Hull is among a very slim percentages of the country that isn't served by BT.

For more:
Check out this coverage at Telephony

Lithuanian IPTV provider nets NBA TV

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:40:12 -0400

Basketball is big in Lithuania, and now fans of NBA players Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Linas Kleiza and Darius Songaila who live in Lithuania can watch their countrymen on the nation's TEO IPTV network. TEO announced its addition of NBA TV to its 'Interactive GALA' IPTV and 'Digital GALA' DTT service. It claims to be the first service provider in the region to offer the channel.

"The tradition of watching basketball with friends is deep in the blood of every Lithuanian," said Nerijus Ivanauskas, Chief Marketing Officer for TEO, in a post at IPTV News. "Now it will no longer be necessary to wait for the once-a-year appearances of the country's national team or the games of Lithuanian clubs."

Too bad TEO and NBA TV weren't around when Arvydas Sabonis was still playing.

For more:
- read this item at IPTV News

Tiscali teams with Cisco on IPTV

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:43:49 -0400

Italy's Tiscali has had the misfortune of working in the shadow of one of the world's most aggressive IPTV pioneers--FastWeb. However, Tiscali launched IPTV services last year and now serves several large Italian cities. Most recently, the carrier signed an agreement with Cisco Systems for the vendor to provide Tiscali with IP next-generation network and video head-end gear, as well as integration services. The solution includes MPEG-4 encoding for standard-definition IPTV programming being delivered to customers in nine cities.

For more:
- see this post at IPTV News

Kangaroo has BT, others hopping mad

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:15:44 -0400

U.K. telco giant BT became the latest company to express its concern over Kangaroo, the video-on-demand joint venture created by the BBC Worldwide, ITV and the U.K.'s Channel 4. What raised the ire of BT and several video service providers and broadcasters was Kangaroo's initial plan to hold exclusive rights to content commissioned by its shareholding firms, which critics claim would give the new company too much control over the developing video-on-demand market.

Kangaroo pulled back on those plans, and The Financial Times reported that Kangaroo, "is now likely to allow other online services to show catch-up TV, the most popular shows for on-demand viewing," and would retain syndication rights for 30 days after transmission. However, critics want assurances all content will be priced and available on a fair basis.

BT, according to C21 Media.net, fears that Kangaroo will adversely affect competition. The telco is in an especially vulnerable position because, with 280,000 customers, its IPTV service is still somewhat small. Also, BT already is facing a growing competitive threat from the likes of France Telecom's Orange and O2, which is planning to grow a TV customer base in the U.K. market.

For more:
- see this coverage at The Financial Times
- read this report at C21 Media.net

Iliad buys Alice, Free grows VOD sales

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:34:23 -0400

French broadband service provider Iliad, which already runs the Free IPTV service, has finalized a deal to buy Telecom Italia's Alice France unit for slightly more than $1.1 billion. News of the deal has been circulating for month, as Telecom Italia has been trying to streamline and reduce costs, while Iliad was trying to beef up in the competitive broadband market in France.

Meanwhile, Iliad's Free ISP unit said demand for its Freebox TV IPTV video-on-demand offering had surged this year, with sales of nearly 2.9 million VOD titles in the first half. Subscriber usage of VOD has tripled in the last two years, the company said.

For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires post at Easy Bourse
- check out this story at IPTV News

Related articles
Iliad made a move on Alice earlier this year. Iliad report
European IPTV providers have been seeing strong growth. European IPTV report

Orange finally set for U.K. TV launch

Dan O'Shea — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:54:43 -0400

France's Orange reportedly is just about set to finally unveil its IPTV service in the U.K., more than a year after the launch was first expected. About four months ago, the France Telecom unit said that it was still committed to entering the U.K. market this year, blaming regulatory hurdles for the delay. Since then, it seems to have taken its time testing the service. It will now be entering an even more mature TV market, which, according to IPTV Watch, is led by experienced firms like Sky and Virgin and is also being pursued by new IPTV players like BT and upcoming entrants such as O2.

For more:
- see this report at IPTV Watch

Related articles:
O2 said late last year it will enter the U.K. market. O2 report
Orange said in April it would be in the U.K. this year. Orange report

Telecom Italia IPTV numbers growing

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:01:07 -0400

When someone talks about IPTV growth in Italy, he or she is usually talking about FastWeb, the Italian service provider that has offered TV services for about six years. But these days, the IPTV player in Italy starting more conversations might be Telecom Italia. The incumbent telco has been going through restructuring, but its IPTV offering has become increasingly popular. Telecom Italia reported that it added 80,000 IPTV customers during the first half of 2008, giving it a total of 180,000 subscribers.

Telecom Italia's goal is 300,000 subscribers by the end of this year, and while it is on pace to reach fewer--260,000--it is getting close to catching FastWeb. Light Reading reports that FastWeb, which is now owned by Swisscom, is believed to have around 230,000 IPTV subscribers, though FastWeb currently is not separating IPTV adds from its overall broadband numbers. Tiscali and Wind Telecommunications are the other two IPTV upstarts making the Italian market interesting right now.

For more:
- check out this coverage at Light Reading Europe

Related articles:
Telecom Italia this year chose not to go with Microsoft Mediaroom. Telecom Italia report
Telecom Italia has been in a recovery mode recently. Telecom Italia report

Euro telcos post IPTV sub increases

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:46:38 -0400

European telcos France Telecom and Spain's Telefonica, two of the world's largest and most influential IPTV carriers, continued to post strong subscriber additions to their IPTV services during the second quarter of 2008. France Telecom added 107,000 customers during the quarter, 76 percent higher than the same period last year, and now has about 1.54 million IPTV customers throughout France, Spain and Poland. The company is still targeting an eventual TV launch in the U.K. France Telecom competitor Free did not discuss its own IPTV numbers, but did say last week that it had added 93,000 ADSL customers (it counts TV as one of several value-added services it delivers over ADSL).

Telefonica reported a 22 percent increase in IPTV customers over last year, and addition of 22,513, to bring its total IPTV customer base to 576,558 (about 27,000 more than U.S. IPTV player AT&T). Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe, BT added about 50,000 users to its live video streaming service in the U.K., bringing its total to about 300,000. BT has pledged a fiber-to-the-home deployment in some parts of the U.K., which will support expansion of TV and other services at a time when competitor France Telecom is readying its competitive invasion.

Worth noting is that both France Telecom and Telefonica appear to be experiencing a slowing in their IPTV additions, at least if the progress from the first quarter of this year to the second quarter is to be believed.

For more:
- read this report at Light Reading

Related articles:
France Telecom and Telefonica made our recent list of IPTV Players Worth Watching
Telefonica added 43,000 IPTV subscribers in the first quarter. Telefonica report

BT rolls on with FTTH project, upgrades Home Hub

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:11:02 -0400

BT, which had been testing a fiber-to-the-home architecture in the U.K. community of Ebbsfleet earlier this year, said it is committing to a broader FTTH network roll-out with an investment of around $3 billion. The company mentioned IPTV and high-definition TV as being among the reasons for making the investment. While some regions of the world, such as France, have seen carriers be aggressive early on with fiber projects, U.K. broadband deployments have been characterized more by technologies like ADSL2+. BT said the fiber push will reach 10 million homes by 2012, but some observers already are saying that the spending commitment by BT indicates a cautious and limited roll-out plan.

In other IPTV-related news at BT, the carrier has introduced a new wireless router for its Home Hub connected home service. The router is based on the 802.11n WiFi specification, and it greatly improves coverage range, security and other aspects of the telco's Home Hub service.

For more:
- read this story at ZDNet.co.uk
- check out this Home Hub coverage at Connected Home News

Related articles:
BT was nowhere near making a fiber commitment two years ago. BT report
BT recently sold content delivery firm Assethouse to Amino Technologies. BT report

Broadband Forum/Point Topic: IPTV subs double again

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:14:36 -0400

The Broadband World Forum Asia is going on in Hong Kong this week, and the Broadband Forum (formerly the DSL Forum) thought it was a good place and time to announce that global broadband subscribers now number 370 million, while global IPTV subscribers now amount to almost 15.5 million. The research was compiled for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic, and the results highlight a doubling of IPTV subscribers for the second straight year.

IPTV is seen as driving sign-up to fiber broadband networks worldwide, with more than 10 million people now connected to fiber networks. Fiber network subscriptions are up 33 percent since the beginning of 2007. However, it may come as a surprise to some that the leading technology delivering IPTV today is ADSL2plus, with 12.1 million subscribers, according to the Forum's press release on the numbers. About 8.4 million of all IPTV subscribers are in European countries. Here are more details from the Broadband Forum release on the Point Topic research:

Regional IPTV subscriber growth worldwide, first quarter 2007 and 2008

     Region                              Q1 2007             Q1 2008

    Europe                             3,875,266           8,425,370

    Asia-Pacific                       1,129,355           2,619,035

    North America                        850,601           2,258,601

    South and East Asia                1,353,000           2,086,000

    Latin America                          2,300              11,183

    Middle East and Africa                10,000              10,000

    TOTAL                              7,220,522          15,410,189

"IPTV operators around the world have shown that systems are scalable and can handle rapid growth in subscriber numbers," said Point Topic Senior Analyst John Bosnell in the release. 
"However, developing and agreeing standards will help these operators deliver IPTV more simply and effectively over a variety of access technologies and help to drive higher up take in other markets."

For more:
- See the MarketWatch story

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

Portugal Telecom hits 100K IPTV subs

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:00:17 -0400

You can add Portugal Telecom to the list of telcos in Europe that have had success with IPTV services. The carrier now has more than 100,000 customers for its IPTV service, having added 53,000 during the second quarter alone to already surpass its previous goal for the end of 2008. Not bad for a telco that turned back an acquisition bid by rival carrier Sonaecom.

For more:
- see this story at IPTV News

Related articles:
Portugal Telecom started off the year with surprising IPTV growth Portugal Telecom report
Sonaecom, meanwhile, has been working on a big FTTH build Sonaecom report

Study: Free IPTV has its price

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:58:13 -0400

Media consulting firm Screen Digest has released a study showing that about 40% of the households receiving IPTV service across Europe's booming array of markets are actually receiving the service for free as a result of IPTV being bundled with other services. Was IPTV supposed to become a commodity quite this quickly?

Though this trend fits with all the advice carriers have been getting about how to think of IPTV as a customer retention tool, Screen Digest points out in a press release that "in many cases the sheer size of the investment needed to deliver IPTV far outweighs the cost savings resulting from even a substantial drop in broadband churn, particularly as IPTV is currently generating so little revenue." What creates a difficult situation for service providers will of course be advantageous to customers, as IPTv drives down the cost of other pay TV services. For example, Screen Digest notes that "France now enjoys some of the cheapest pay-TV in the world, with much content available free simply with a broadband subscription. For this reason, nearly a fifth of French households will be using IPTV as their main method of TV viewing by 2012."

For more:
- see this Screen Digest press release

Related articles:
Europe's top IPTV drivers Europe's IPTV
Global IPTV to see 52% growth through 2012 IPTV growth report
Other studies have shown that IPTV is starting to affect the success of pay TV IPTV report