BSNL to Expand IPTV to 100 Cities

BSNL, that state run telecom operator in India, plans to expand its IPTV offering to 100 cities in India and to bring the service to more than 20 million homes across India. The service is now available in the New Delhi area, Bangalore, and Kolkata. Following the recent launch of the service in Rajasthan, the company was receiving 100 orders a day within one week.

The price of the service is about $4.50 per month. The company expects to have 100 thousand IPTV subscribers by March 2009.

This is an ambitious deployment plan. It is a good idea to take such an aggressive announcement from India, with a grain of salt. The biggest problem there is still building out the broadband infrastructure to support its IPTV deployment. On the other hand, having 100 thousand IPTV subscribers in six months seems reasonable.

India Approves IPTV Rules

The Indian government has approved rules recommended by TRAI that allow broadcasters to provide content to IPTV services. This gives the IPTV providers access to broadcast content that is currently available to cable and satellite companies in India.

This approval creates a level playing field for IPTV, cable, and satellite in India relative to content. It sets the stage for a significant expansion of the IPTV services in 2009. The challenge is to put the broadband infrastructure in place that will be needed to support it.

BSNL in India to Delay IPTV

BSNL, the state run telco in India, will delay its IPTV launch for a year in Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. Recent rulings now enable it to establish agreements directly with the major content providers in the country. It has had poor response to the trial that it has been running with IOL in Bangalore. IOL aggregated content on its own. It is now acquiring its own IPTV infrastructure equipment.

The IPTV situation in India is still rather clouded. The fundamental problem there, though, is the lack of broadband infrastructure. IPTV will not do well there until broadband services are broadly available.

Playing Field Leveled in India

The Indian government accepted the recommendation from TRAI that broadcast channels be provided to all video providers on a non-discriminatory basis. Up until now, the satellite video providers were able to acquire that broadcast content at a lower price than the IPTV providers. It will also permit a la carte pricing of broadcast channels on IPTV.

This should help the emerging IPTV services in India. There is a lot of activity there, but it is not clear how well the IPTV service is being accepted as yet.

Creating a Level Playing Field for Content in India.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held meetings the May 14 through 16th with the broadcasters of pay channels to discuss the rates and packaging of channels they offer to facilitate faster growth of IPTV services in the country. TRAI had previously recommended that the broadcasters should be allowed provide signals to all distributors of TV channels including IPTV service providers.

Some of IPTV have had difficulty getting broadcast channels at prices as the DTH satellite service. providers are getting in line with TRAI’s determination of a-la-carte and bouquet prices on advisory basis. In the meetings there was a general consensus for non-discriminatory pricing as well as pricing channels on both an a la carte and a bundled basis for IPTV services.

This is a step forward for IPTV in India that will help the Telcos to compete with the existing satellite providers.

MTNL Hits Regulatory Hurdle

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has shot off a letter to MTNL seeking asking why it has violated licence conditions under which a basic service operator (BSO) cannot offer value-added services such as IPTV. The regulator pointed out that MTNL has reported IPTV tariffs and providing IPTV as a value-added service under the BSO licence.

MTNL has the choice of applying for an expensive UASL The regulator can also impose a fine on the state-owned telecom company. At the moment, MTNL has licences to operate basic as well as cellular services.

MTNL plans to protest the regulator's ruling.

MTNL, was the first to introduce IPTV services last October and will soon be facing IPTV competition from Reliance Communications and Bharti in the IPTV segment as these operators are also readying their plans. MTNL is targeting around 50,000 subscribers this year and has already has 6,000.

MTNL charges Rs 250 ($US6.35) a month for around 102 channels and an upfront payment of Rs 3,000 ($US75) as rental for the set-top box for providing IPTV services.

There has been a lot of press about IPTV regulation in India that has been quite positive until now. The bump in the road that MTNL has hit shows how difficult it is to forecast markets like India.

I would appreciate comments from any readers who are closer to this situation.

Sun Sets Up IPTV Lab in India

Sun Microsystems India and Tech Mahindra along with AMD will jointly set up an IPTV lab at the Tech Mahindra facility in Pune in India. Tech Mahindra is already engaged with various service providers to offer IPTV solutions in various geographies.

The IPTV lab at Tech Mahindra will include solutions from companies such as Digisoft, Envivio, Harmonic, I-Make, Verimatrix Mototech, and Sun’s Streaming System. The lab will demonstrate a pre-integrated end-to-end IPTV system for tier1, tier2 and tier3 service providers.

This looks like a good move for Sun. There is significant potential for IPTV in the Indian market as well as in other Southern Asia countries.

Indian Regulator Proposes IPTV Rules

TRAI, the regulator in India, has issued recommendations for rules for IPTV services in India. These recommendations state that IPTV providers can offer only broadcast channels that have been approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. They also recommend a technical change that includes the IPTV providers in the companies that can receive broadcast feeds.

These recommendations also would permit cable companies and larger Internet providers to also offer IPTV services without any additional licensing.

These draft recommendations are being put on the TRAI website inviting further comments from stakeholders. After this TRAI will issue the final recommendations to the Government.

These recommendations seem straightforward. They permit IPTV services to operate and give the cable companies the right to create their own IPTV services.

In fact cable companies, particularly in Europe, are starting to deploy telco style broadband and IPTV services rather than expanding their cable networks and buying unbundled loops from the incumbent telco for these services.

I would appreciate comments from readers in India about these regulations.

Reliance Confirms Microsoft-based IPTV Service

Reliance in India has confirmed that it will use Microsoft's Mediaroom software for its IPTV launch in March. It plans to introduce IPTV services in Delhi and Mumbai at that time. Reliance said that it will have the exclusive deployment rights for Microsoft's software in India in a deal that has been said to be worth $500 million.

Reliance and Microsoft have been working together for a long time, so this announcements confirms a long standing relationship. Reliance joins other major carriers in India in introducing IPTV services in Delhi and Mumbai. It appears that these will be very competitive markets next year.

UTStarcom Making Strides in India

I recently had an interview with UTStarcom about its recent announcement that Bharti Airtel has selected it for its IPTV service. I have a lot to learn about the Indian market, so they patiently gave me a lot of background information. I will repeat the major points here on the assumption that I am not the only one who needs to learn the basics.

There are two state run companies BSNL and MTNL that are the incumbent operators in India. MTNL is the smaller of the two companies and serves the two largest metro areas centered on Delhi and Mumbai. BSNL is much larger than MTNL and serves the rest of India, including the rural areas. India is densely populated even in rural areas, especially when compared to the U.S.

There are also three large privately held c0mpetitive telcos in India:

• Bharti is the largest of these competitors and is headquartered in Delhi, but serves the entire country.
• Reliance is headquartered in Mumbai and serves the entire country.
• Tata is headquartered in Mumbai and serves the southern part of India.

Bharti Airtel selected UTStarcom's RollingStream system for the IPTV service that it is developing. UTStarcom has been in trial with Bharti for the last 2 1/2 years. Bharti plans to start its IPTV service in 8 cities in the Delhi area. It has committed to 120 thousand IPTV subscribers to start and than expects to grow to 450 thousand subscribers. Its IPTV service will have more than 100 broadcast channels along with on demand content.

Bharti expects to offer IPTV in other regions after it is established in the Delhi region. It would like to have the service widely deployed across its in network in time for the Commonwealth games in 2010.

MTNL has also selected UTStarcom for its IPTV service. MTNL also expects to launch its IPTV service in the Delhi area.

These deployments in India should keep UTStarcom in the leading position in the IPTV market in Asia and to be one of the leaders globally. In fact, UTStarcom is now competiting with Motorola, Microsoft, and Alcatel for global leadership in IPTV market.

UTStarcom Lands Bharti Airtel

UTStarcom announced a contract to supply its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution to Bharti Airtel, one of India's leading integrated telecommunications service providers with more than 46 million customers.

This is a significant entry into the Indian market for UTStarcom. With its strong presence in China, UTStarcom is becoming one of the major ITPV system suppliers.

India Regulator Issues TelcoTV Position Paper

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued a Position Paper on the Provisioning of IPTV Services. This paper describes how regulations in India should be adjusted to accommodate the recent introduction of TelcoTV services in India. It states that:

• Both telecom service providers having license to provide triple play services under and cable TV operators can provide IPTV service without requiring any further license or registration.
• The content will be regulated under Up-linking/Down-linking guidelines issued by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• There should be no bar on Broadcasters or content providers to provide their content to IPTV service providers also.
• Any breach of the provisions by telecom service providers. cable operators, or Broadcaster shall be dealt with by designated agencies.

It appears that the regulator in India is not creating barriers to the deployment of TelcoTV services in India. It is working to rationalize its regulation to accommodate the introduction of these services.

BSNL will start IPTV August 15

Indian telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) announced that its IPTV service will be launched in Kolkata on August 15 . This enhancement of Calcutta Telephones’ existing broadband service will have 100 TV channels, video-on-demand (one movie will cost between US$.25 and US$1.25). The roll out of IPTV will begin from Salt Lake area and gradually move to other parts of the city. The monthly fixed charge of IPTV will be US$6.25plus taxes.
IPTV in India is starting to pick up some momentum. The small number of broadband lines in India compared to the rest of the world will keep its rate of growth down.

MTNL Launches Fiber IPTV in Delhi

MTN and its IPTV franchisee Aksh Optifibre launched anIPTV service in Delhi. All MTNL broadband subscribers will be able to register for the IPTV service. The two c0mpanies deployed the service in about 200 homes in New Delhi in 2006..

This service will cost 90 rupees ($2.25) per month plus premium pay channels based. Viewers will be able to subscribe to the pay channels listed on the TV itself and start watching them immediately.

The service will include a Time-shift TV service that will allow viewers to rewind a live broadcast channel and to catch a program that has been broadcast in the previous week.

Advertisers will be able to upload full length campaigns, product videos, and detailed trailers, without the limitation to a 10, 20, or 30 second format.
An ecommerce facility will launched soon that will allow users to items shown on infomercials and pay for it using the television remote and have it delivered to their homes.

A video on demand service will also be available with over 100 movie titles in Hindi and English. Plays and serialized TV programs in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi and Bangla will also be in the library. Additional titles will be added every week. In addition services such as booking of movie tickets with the television remote, video calling, music on demand, online chats, and virtual classrooms -are expected to be added to the service.

Based on an open platform, this service will also allow creation of third-party applications that can be offered through the system - from placing orders for cakes and flowers to trading of stocks while watching a business news broadcast channel and telemedicine for which the remote center only needs an MTNL line and a television set.

India promises to be a very strong IPTV market in time. It will have to substantially increase its broadband infrastructure first, of course.

What is interesting is the amount of innovation that is going into this service. MTNL is starting to deploy services that are only being talked about in North America and Europe. It will be interesting to see how this service develops.

BSNL Launches IPTV in India

BSNL, the seventh largest telecom company in the world, launched an IPTV service in Pune, India. This service provides access to 100 broadcast channels along with video on demand service. This IPTV service completes a triple play offering that also includes Internet access and VoIP.

BSNL joins MTNL as an IPTV service provider in India. It is expected that Reliance will introduce its own service by the end of 2007. While the market potential in India is huge, it will take a long time to develop. There are only about 2 million broadband subscribers, so that the number of homes that are capable of using IPTV is quite small. The full market potential of IPTV will take many years to develop.