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Telecom Services V&D 100

IPTV: More Interactive

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Voice&Data Bureau
New Update

Over the last few years, the growth of satellite service, the
rise of digital cable and the birth of HDTV have left their mark on the
television landscape. Now, a new delivery method threatens to shake things up
even more powerfully. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has arrived and backed
by the deep pockets of the telecommunications industry, it's poised to offer
more interactivity and bring a hefty dose of competition to the business of
selling TV.

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Telcos are jumping headfirst into this market. With dipping
ARPUs and falling voice revenue, IPTV is seen as a one-stop solution to all
Telco woes. The telcos now want to turn a "triple play" of voice,
data, and video that will retire the side and put them securely in the batter's
box. They're pumping billions into new fiber rollouts and backend
infrastructure. BSNL and MTNL are already offering IPTV, and before the year is
out, Bharti and Reliance will also offer services.

Moving Beyond Telco's

Cable IPTV and satellite IPTV introduce a significant new dynamic to this
market. The anticipated use of IP as the delivery mechanism for television on
these networks redefines IPTV, expanding its boundaries far beyond what has
until now been considered a telco-centric activity.

TRAI has now dealt with a blow to the Internet service providers
(ISPs) by imposing a license fee and introducing revenue sharing arrangement.
Its recommendations will also adversely affect mass usage of the Internet as the
regulator has kept IPTV out of the reach of ISPs.

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The Big Players

  • A partnership has been
    announced between Sun Microsystems India and Tech Mahindra to enable
    rollout of cost-effective and efficient IPTV services in India and
    Apac region

  • Along with AMD, Sun and
    Tech Mahindra will set up a GenNext IPTV lab at the Tech Mahindra
    facility in Pune. The upcoming IPTV lab will feature solutions from a
    group of partners, including Digisoft, Envivio, Harmonic, I-Make,
    Verimatrix, Mototech, as well as Sun's own Streaming System

  • Goldstone Technologies
    has signed agreements with twelve new national and international
    channels for providing live channel content on its IPTV

  • Bharti Airtel's test
    runs have been on for a year and the trials for picture quality, V-o-D
    and other services have passed muster

  • BSNL to launch IPTV
    services in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata

  • BBC has signed a deal
    with the IPTV firm India On Line Broadband (IOL)

  • Bharti Airtel plans to
    expand offerings to IPTV and DTH. Scales up managed services contract
    with Nortel

  • Zee has set up Digital
    Media Convergence to function as the content aggregator for IPTV

Opportunities Galore

Why the sudden enthusiasm for the TV business? Because the telcos see the
stakes are higher than just some television. Companies that offer the triple
play want to become your household's sole communications link, and IPTV is a
major part of that strategy. Also, IPTV makes sense for telcos considering the
pipes that can carry voice, data and now video, have already been laid.
Compression technology has also improved giving better video quality at lower
bandwidths. Prices of international bandwidth and digital storage have declined.
IPTV provides various revenue streams through V-o-D, television commerce or
t-commerce.

T-commerce provides the user a choice to respond to an
advertisement and order the product through the television instantaneously.
Although the technology is not completely tested, major players have plans on
this front.

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IPTV opens way for one-to-one advertising. This will not only
help advertisers target a more focused user group but also free the user from
seeing so many ads that have no relevance to him/her. Gaming through IPTV can be
a trump card in the hands of service provider.

Niche content is another area which is benefiting from the
digital content distribution. IPTV and similar digital platforms help user
choose what he/she wants to see and gives content creators opportunity to target
a very specific group. Some of the international media houses have already
jumped into the fray. With the launch of its joint venture with TV-18, US-based
Viacom is planning to get more niche channels into India. BBC forayed into this
business with CBeebies and BBC Entertainment, both available on Tata Sky and IOL.
The problems that niche channels earlier faced in penetrating cable homes are
slowly vanishing with digital distribution platform coming in and customers
choosing content-specific channels.

Nilabh Jha


nilabhj@cybermedia.co.in