compete against traditional delivery and distribution platforms like cable and TV satellite services. The primary focus of the IPTV equipment suppliers will be signing up smaller telephone companies (telcos). But it isn’t just small telcos that are the appropriate and targeted customers for IPTV technology. Private cable operators, municipalities, masterplanned communities, multipledwelling units (or MDUs), public utility districts, cooperatives and hotels are all potential clients due to the technical advantages of IPTV with its “pull” model (or one channel at a time), versus a push model (all channels sent at once), of cable and satellite, and triple play features. The IPTV vanguard is also counting on independent IP platform operators to allow their customers to get to market faster because their IPTV platforms offer turnkey alternatives to acquire IP technology such as set-top boxes, content, customer care services and the marketing expertise they need to profitably compete. In what shall be, and already is, a daunting challenge for the IPTV players, who among them has the upper hand? And what impact does it have on local TV stations and program rights’ holders? Although last to enter the market, Echostar’s ViP-TV may be able to V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 34 F rom Broadcas t to Broadband IPTV Gets Four U.S. Players and Much Hope BY MICHAEL HARABIN When Echostar, operator of the U.S.-based satellite TV service Dish Network, announced last October that it would be launching ViP-TV, its own version of an IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) platform, the company was entering a nascent, yet already crowded IPTV market. ViP-TV will have to compete against incumbent IPTV platforms such as IP Prime from New Jersey-based satellite operator SES-Americom, Virginia’s Avail Media, assorted smaller players and new services from large telephone companies like Verizon’s FiOS and AT&T’s U-verse. A brief explanation of IPTV platforms helps to bring it all into focus. An IPTV platform essentially allows for the distribution of TV channels and video content (like VoD) for home TV viewing over a network designed for the Internet. Briefly stated, the plan envisions that telephone companies, Wi-Fi and WiMax operators or other public utilities like electrical cooperatives located throughout the U.S. will respond to cable TV companies’ triple play suites (highspeed Internet access, cable TV, phone) by offering TV services to their customers. The primary selling points of the IPTV platforms are the promise of distributing video signals in a more efficient manner in terms of bandwidth consumed. This makes an IPTV platform a lower-cost option for programmers and rights holders distributing both standard and highdefinition channels and for service providers in terms of up-front head-end equipment costs (the head-end being the service providers’ central equipment center where all of the equipment is housed). In effect, the service providers using IPTV platforms as their source for content can operate like a cable company and are called “cable bypass.” All of the IPTV platforms are pinning their hopes on the nascent IPTV technology to provide their potential customers (such as ethnic channels and VoD operators) with the ability to Michael Harabin caused by rain. Echostar, which uses Ku-band frequencies, projects that up to 300 national channels will be available on ViP-TV in the near future. IP Prime claims over 300 local TV outlets to date. As for Avail Media, it claims to differentiate itself by combining TV networks and video-on-demand solutions into each single IPTV service. For programmers and rights holders licensing their content, the key question is whether the IPTV platforms that will enable small market telcos and others to enter the TV market will increase revenues. It is also possible that IPTV platforms may simply cannibalize customers on existing platforms resulting in an overall zero sum game or no net increase of subscribers. On the other hand, if IPTV does grow the market overall, it will become yet another avenue to reach homes that were previously inaccessible to satellite. Final thoughts: The projected cost of an IPTV head-end is lower than a traditional analog or digital cable TV head-end. However, because the customers of IPTV platforms (small rural telcos, hotels, platform operators) serve a relatively small number of customers, typically around 10,000 TV households, the cost of an IPTV-capable head-end can present customers with a significant upfront investment. This upfront cost for the service providers may pose a barrier for IPTV platforms’ potential customers. Once the price of hardware is driven down or made more accessible through financial incentives, IPTV deployment will speed up. provide the best IPTV solution. While all of the IPTV companies listed above have specific attributes that distinguish them to their potential customers, Echostar has a few unique arrows in its quiver. Local Channels – The ViP-TV platform does not offer local TV channel services, however local TV channels can be received in combination with Dish Network. Indeed, one of the mainstays of the two Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) services in the U.S., Dish Network and market leader, DIRECTV, is their ability to offer local TV stations, both independent and network affiliates, to their customers via their satellite services. These local channels serve designated local market areas allowing both DIRECTV and Echostar’s Dish Network to compete head on with cable in urbanized markets. Logistical Support– The programmers of IPTV platforms may need assistance marketing video services to their subscribers and then serving those subscribers with the ability to handle both the outbound marketing and inbound customer service calls. ViP-TV, again through its relationship with Dish Network, can also offer a fleet of field service technicians countrywide for service calls and installations. Slingbox– An interesting component to the ViP-TV solution is Slingbox, Echostar’s latest strategic acquisition. Slingbox is an IPTV-based product that encodes viewers’ own personal TV content and channels into IPTV for distribution on the Web, thus making it possible, through any Internet connection, to watch all TV offerings available at home, even when viewers are away from home. Slingbox technology, when married to a DVR (digital video recorder) set-top box has the potential to be a unique selling proposition for ViP-TV’s potential customers. A primary difference between, let’s say, ViP-TV and Americom’s IP Prime is that IP Prime uses C-band satellite frequencies, which require larger satellite antennas but offer better protection from service interruptions “ For programmers and rights holders licensing their content, the key question is whether the IPTV platforms that will enable small market telcos and others to enter the TV market will increase revenues.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5