The Opportunity Telcos can’t Ignore: TV over IPDanna Bethlehem, Publications and Online Marketing Manager, Optibase
The buzzword “triple-play”— referring to a bundle of services comprising TV over IP, telephony and broadband Internet — has recently gained exposure among telephone companies that have begun to enter the previously unchartered territory of delivering TV to their subscribers over IP networks. Now it appears that this concept is quickly becoming a reality. During the keynote address given at the United States Telecom Association’s (USTA) annual national conference in September, Walter B. McCormick, Jr., president and CEO of the USTA, cited that more than 100 telecom companies are pursuing “triple play” service – offering voice, video and data – to their customers. Furthermore, Mr. McCormick stated that “local company after local company, big, small, urban and rural are abandoning ‘business as usual,’ responding to the needs of their customers, and embarking on a bold new path by embracing the triple play and investing in the advanced infrastructure that will deliver it.”
TV over IP: Gaining Momentum
Indeed, the prominence given to triple play services at the USTA conference shows that Telcos and operators are on the path to reaping the benefits of this market opportunity created by the rollout of digital networking infrastructure and deregulation.
Triple Play services utilize digital broadband networks such as ADSL, VDSL, fibre, LMDS and wireless LANs to transmit TV programming to consumers’ homes. As part of this approach, Telcos are delivering TV over their IP networks for regular TV services, time-shifted TV or personal video recorder (PVR) services, interactive TV and TV to the desktop. This last application is one of the hallmarks of TV over IP versatility. Viewers can watch TV on their PCs or on their TVs.
Telcos and operators have had no choice but to tread the TV over IP path. Deregulation has increased competition in their traditional telephony markets. TV over IP gives them a chance to recoup market share and increase revenues by offering a wider range of services. With TV over IP, operators can offer a greater level of service to their customers. The fact that customers receive converged services on a single pipe and interface with a single provider for all communication needs results in easier technical maintenance, streamlined billing and improved customer service. Additionally, by utilizing digital networks, telcos and operators can offer far more sophisticated programming packages.
Getting TV over IP off the Ground
When implemented by a Telco or operator, a TV over IP solution typically streams between 50 and 150 TV channels over an IP network. Content is streamed from the operator head-end over the backbone to a central/regional office. At the central office, the video is distributed over the “last mile” to the end user. Complimentary streaming equipment at the central office allows operators to insert additional channels of local content, which can be targeted at specific areas or groups of users. While the networking infrastructure may be different, to the consumer the delivery method is indistinguishable.
TV over IP: General Layout
What is needed to set up a TV over IP solution? Regardless of the network infrastructure, streaming and networking equipment needs to be installed at the head-end, the central/regional office and the consumer site.
Streaming Platform: The streaming platform, such as Optibase’s MGW 5100 carrier grade platform, resides at the head-end where it receives analog streams and encodes them. The streaming platform transmits the streams to a switch or router, which transfers them over the backbone to the central/remote offices, and from there, to the consumer. An additional streaming platform can reside at the central office where it receives local live feeds for transmission to targeted areas.
The streaming platform should meet several requirements: First, it needs to be able to carry out high quality transcoding – from a high bitrate satellite stream to a bitrate of 2-4 Mbps suitable for DSL infrastructure. Since the video is being delivered in a telecom environment, the platform must conform to carrier grade standards including redundancy and hot swap capabilities. Lastly, Telcos who are entering the TV over IP arena want a platform that offers flexibility in the form of support for all types of video inputs and the ability to migrate to new evolving video formats such as MPEG-4.
Video Server: Video servers fulfill several purposes at head-ends. For store and forward transmissions, they store digitally encoded content and stream it through level III devices via operators’ networking infrastructure. They receive newly encoded digital content that is uploaded from the streaming platform. They also enable time-shifted TV applications. For this purpose, the streaming platform encodes all channels on a daily basis uploading them to the video server. Viewers at home can then watch any program at a time convenient to them.
Level III Device: There is a need for a switch or router that supports multicast transmission. The router or switch resides at the head-end, interfacing with the network. Another router or switch receives data at the central office and transmits either to DSLAMS located there, or into end-user ethernet-based network.
DSLAM: The DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) resides at the central office, connecting xDSL subscribers to the backbone and subsequently to the head-end. When distributing TV over IP, the DSLAM should support multicast transmission. If it doesn’t, the switch or router at the central office has to replicate each channel for each request. This can cause congestion at the DSLAM input level. If the DSLAM supports multicast, it receives one stream for each channel and replicates the stream for each end point.
CPE (Customer Premises Equipment): The equipment located at the consumer end-point that receives the TV/IP stream. Usually the term CPE refers to the DSL modem. The DSL Modem receives the stream from the DSLAM or level III device and transfers it directly to the PC for display on the desktop or to the IP STB.
IP Set-Top-Box: The IP STB receives the IP stream, and decodes the stream for display on the TV. Typically, the IP STB receives the stream from the CPE. Some STBs can receive the IP stream directly from the DSLAM, and serve as CPE as well.
End-point Configuration: The TV/IP stream is fed into the CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), in most cases a modem. The modem transfers the MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 stream to an IP/STB which decodes the stream for display on a TV set. MPEG-4 streams can also be displayed on PCs using the Microsoft Media Player. If there is sufficient bandwidth between the central office and the end-point, two channels can be streamed to two IP STBs.
Middleware: Middleware refers to the software that integrates the various parts of the IP over TV solution. Middleware is installed along the streaming media chain, starting at the head-end and reaching into consumers’ homes in the form of software running on IP set-top-boxes. Middleware takes care of issues like billing, program guide management and security – ensuring that streams are not hijacked on the way to consumers.
Win-Win for Operators and Consumers
Market dynamics in the broadcasting industry are now pointing strongly toward TV over IP as a viable alternative to traditional broadcasting technologies. This is especially true in rural areas where consumers often don’t have the wide range of TV choices available to their city counterparts; not all rural areas are serviced by cable networks. Some have to rely on satellite TV. Realizing the potential, several rural operators have already made the necessary investments to upgrade their infrastructures and are offering triple play services.
At the end of the day, people in their living rooms don’t care what type of network delivers their favorite show. What they do care about is quality and added value services. This is where TV over IP can influence consumers’ levels of expectations. Telcos or operators that offer “triple play” services comprising of telephony, high-speed Internet, and advanced digital TV services can provide real added value to their customers.
