Light Reading has published a video of an interview with BesTV, the joint venture between China Telecom and Shanghai Media that runs the IPTV service in Shanghai. It describes the services, including interactive services, that are available in Shanghai.
This interview discusses the advanced IPTV services that make Shanghai one of the most advanced IPTV offerings in the world. The U.S. and Europe is generally lagging behind Shanghai in terms of interactive TV services.
Showing posts with label Shanghai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shanghai. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
IPTV Subscribers Increasing in China
The number of IPTV users in Jiangsu Province China increase to more than 200,000 by the end of September 2008, compared to 35,000 at the end of 2007. This is an increase of 471 percent in the first nine months of 2008, the sharpest rise in IPTV use in the country.
Jiangsu Province started offering IPTV services to residents in the second half of 2006. China Telecom's local branch operates the service, in collaboration with content providers Shanghai Media Group, the state-run Xinhua news agency, and ZTE.
Shanghai now has more than 600,000 IPTV users as of the end of September, up approximately 150 percent from the end of 2007. At the end of 2007, Hangzhou City had the most IPTV subscribers of any IPTV subscription region with 250,000, while Shanghai Municipality had 240,000 users and Henan Province ranked third with 200,000 users. Jiangsu Province ranked just ninth at the time with 35,000 users, far fewer than the top five regions. The pace of growth has slackened in some regions where IPTV once developed rapidly, such as Heilongjiang Province and Henan Province.
China is on its way to becoming the leading IPTV country as it has done with broadband. However, its IPTV success is still concentrated in only a few provinces. Its ultimate success depends on expanding this success to all provinces.
Jiangsu Province started offering IPTV services to residents in the second half of 2006. China Telecom's local branch operates the service, in collaboration with content providers Shanghai Media Group, the state-run Xinhua news agency, and ZTE.
Shanghai now has more than 600,000 IPTV users as of the end of September, up approximately 150 percent from the end of 2007. At the end of 2007, Hangzhou City had the most IPTV subscribers of any IPTV subscription region with 250,000, while Shanghai Municipality had 240,000 users and Henan Province ranked third with 200,000 users. Jiangsu Province ranked just ninth at the time with 35,000 users, far fewer than the top five regions. The pace of growth has slackened in some regions where IPTV once developed rapidly, such as Heilongjiang Province and Henan Province.
China is on its way to becoming the leading IPTV country as it has done with broadband. However, its IPTV success is still concentrated in only a few provinces. Its ultimate success depends on expanding this success to all provinces.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Olympic IPTV Boom in Shanghai
Due to its replay function that provides access to programs aired in the past 48 hours, subsciptions to IPTV, are booming in Shanghai ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games. China Telecom has received about 3,000 IPTV subscriptions every day, the most in its history.
The number of IPTV users in Shanghai has reached 510 thousand and is expected to hit 800 thousand by the end of 2008. BestTV, the IPTV unit of Shanghai Media Group, said it would promote a new service during the Olympics that enable viewers to watch different sporting events on different windows on one screen.
Shanghai Media Group provides two HDTV programs that are being viewed by more than 20,000 users. About 300 thousand Shanghai broadband users can receive this HD service,''
The company is facing the problem that the installation of wiring to support IPTV can sometimes damage the interior of people's.
This is another example of how sports content can significantly increase the subscription of IPTV services. It is interesting to see that HD has started to penetrate in Shanghai.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
UTStarcom Sees High On Demand Usage
UTStarcom is seeing on average that 60 percent of the IPTV viewing in its Shanghai deployment uses unicast video on demand content. It expects that this percentage will grow next month due the availability of on demand viewing of all of the events at the Beijing Olympics.
The network it has deployed in Shanghai supports both multicast and unicast, but there are some areas where only unicast is available. There are areas that are served only by an ATM network that is not well suited to multicast. Shanghai Telecom often does not deploy IPTV services in these areas, but when it does, it will provide both broadcast as well as on demand content using unicast. There is no problem offering multicast IPTV in areas served by an IP netowrk.
UTStarcom acknowledges that the extensive use of unicast will generate a significant load on the metro aggregation network. It stated that this has not been a problem as yet.
Shanghai is the largest IPTV that I have found with such high usage of unicast on demand IPTV services. My guess is that the traffic loads that this service has generated have not been a significant problem yet because the percentage of broadband subscribers using IPTV services is still quite low. I believe things will change as IPTV penetration grows.
The network it has deployed in Shanghai supports both multicast and unicast, but there are some areas where only unicast is available. There are areas that are served only by an ATM network that is not well suited to multicast. Shanghai Telecom often does not deploy IPTV services in these areas, but when it does, it will provide both broadcast as well as on demand content using unicast. There is no problem offering multicast IPTV in areas served by an IP netowrk.
UTStarcom acknowledges that the extensive use of unicast will generate a significant load on the metro aggregation network. It stated that this has not been a problem as yet.
Shanghai is the largest IPTV that I have found with such high usage of unicast on demand IPTV services. My guess is that the traffic loads that this service has generated have not been a significant problem yet because the percentage of broadband subscribers using IPTV services is still quite low. I believe things will change as IPTV penetration grows.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Shanghai Telecom at 420K IPTV Subscribers
Shanghai Telecom now has 420 thousand IPTV subscribers in the city compared to 230 thousand one year ago. Shanghai's IPTV service is adding value added products and developing new services. For example, its relaxation games, which were launched on May 31, attracted 34 thousand users in four days, which illustrates the popularity of interactive products.
China's IPTV subscribers is expected to grow at a significant pace this year due to the Beijing Olympic Games. The service is expected grow rapidly during the next five years and is expected to reach 35 million in 2012.
Shanghai has the most successful IPTV service in China and is experiencing rapid growth. IPTV has not been as successful in the other deployments in the country.
China's IPTV subscribers is expected to grow at a significant pace this year due to the Beijing Olympic Games. The service is expected grow rapidly during the next five years and is expected to reach 35 million in 2012.
Shanghai has the most successful IPTV service in China and is experiencing rapid growth. IPTV has not been as successful in the other deployments in the country.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Shanghai has 220,000 IPTV Subscribers
China Telecom reported that its Shanghai Telecom subsidiary now has 220 thousand IPTV subscribers and 3 million broadband subscribers. It stated that half the families in Shanghai now have broadband connections. 85 percent of these broadband lines are at 2 Mbps or above and can support IPTV services. The company is planning to upgrade to 16 Mbps (ADSL-2+ I assume) and will be capable of supporting HDTV. It charges about $20 per month for a broadband line.
Broadband and IPTV is continuing to grow rapidly in China. This is clearly a market where there are still large opportunities available for IPTV systems companies.
Broadband and IPTV is continuing to grow rapidly in China. This is clearly a market where there are still large opportunities available for IPTV systems companies.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
China Telcos Wants IPTV Deregulation
China Telecom and China Netcom called for the deregulation of the IPTV market in China. They stated that there is a worldwide trend to deregulate IPTV; however, they stated that it is not happening in China. For example, regulators have only allowed China Telecom to offer IPTV commercial services in only six cities.
The two firms hope that IPTV can provide them with a major source of broadband revenue, but broadcasting authorities are concerned that IPTV could hurt cable TV operators. In December 2005, the broadcasting authorities in Quanzhou, in East China's Fujian Province, ordered the closure of an IPTV service jointly run by China Telecom and the Shanghai Media Group, despite the fact that the Shanghai Media Group had been granted a license to operate the service by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
A new law is being developed to address this issue but is not expected to be passed before March 2008.
China Telecom has 210,000 IPTV subscribers with 150,000 in Shanghai. China Netcom has more than 140,000 IPTV subscribers.
The short term prospects for IPTV in China are cloudy at best. There is still a lot of uncertainty that is based on how the government will sort out the conflict between the cable and the telephone companies. It is likely that this will be sorted out in the next year or two, but it is wise to take a conservative approach for now.
The two firms hope that IPTV can provide them with a major source of broadband revenue, but broadcasting authorities are concerned that IPTV could hurt cable TV operators. In December 2005, the broadcasting authorities in Quanzhou, in East China's Fujian Province, ordered the closure of an IPTV service jointly run by China Telecom and the Shanghai Media Group, despite the fact that the Shanghai Media Group had been granted a license to operate the service by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
A new law is being developed to address this issue but is not expected to be passed before March 2008.
China Telecom has 210,000 IPTV subscribers with 150,000 in Shanghai. China Netcom has more than 140,000 IPTV subscribers.
The short term prospects for IPTV in China are cloudy at best. There is still a lot of uncertainty that is based on how the government will sort out the conflict between the cable and the telephone companies. It is likely that this will be sorted out in the next year or two, but it is wise to take a conservative approach for now.
Monday, February 26, 2007
250,000 IPTV Subscribers in Shanghai Telecom
BesTV reportedly had 250 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 2006. BesTV is the IPTV subsidiary of Shanghai Telecom and the Shanghai Medical Group that offers IPTV services in Shanghai and surrounding provinces in China. This service started in August 2005.
It was also reported that BesTV had 80 thousand subscribers at the end of 2006 and has 100 thousand today.
These numbers represent a high rate of growth. It appears that the BesTV IPTV deployment has had a quite successful start.
It was also reported that BesTV had 80 thousand subscribers at the end of 2006 and has 100 thousand today.
These numbers represent a high rate of growth. It appears that the BesTV IPTV deployment has had a quite successful start.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
