Belgacom Considering New IPTV Middleware

Light Reading published an article saying that Belgacom is considering replacing its Nokia Siemens middleware. Light Reading thinks that Microsoft is the leading contender. The other major vendors supporting Microsoft are Arris/C-Cor for video on demand, Amino for set-top boxes, and Verimatrix for content security.

The Nokia Siemens middleware came from its acquisition of Myrio. Myrio's middleware was originally designed for the small U.S. independent telcos.

This is an interesting situation. It does not appear that Nokia Siemens has made the investment in the Myrio middleware to allow it to scale to meet Belgacom's needs and to support the next generation of interactive applications.

Microsoft's Mediaroom is an obvious candidate. I expect that Alcatel-Lucent will use its strong relationship with Belgacom to push the MyView middleware that it acquired from Telefonica. Thomson's middleware that is used by France Telecom should be another strong candidate.

It will be bad news for Arris/C-Cor, Amino, and Verimatrix if Belgacom its replaces Nokia Siemens middleware.

Alcatel-Lucent TPSDA 2.0 Steals Microsoft's Thunder

Alcatel-Lucent has introduced IPTV application awareness into its Triple Play Services Delivery Architecture (TPSDA) 2.0. It will add flash storage to its edge routers, its switches, and its access nodes that will support fast channel change, packet retransmission, and targeted ad insertion.

• For fast channel change the last few minutes of every multicast channel will be stored in the network and the new channel will be started immediately, eliminating the latency that typically occurs today. Alcatel-Lucent said that HD channel change time will be reduced from several seconds to well under a second.
• For packet retransmission the network will store enough packets to immediately service the packet retransmission request.
• For ad insertion targeted ads will be stored and inserted in the network.

If the service provider uses Alcatel-Lucent access nodes, these functions can be provided in the access network. These functions can also be provided in the Alcatel-Lucent switches or edge routers for service providers using Alcatel-Lucent's TPSDA 2.0 architecture.

Alcatel-Lucent has also discussed plans to increase the amount of storage in these network elements in order to support rewind TV and video on demand delivery.

TPSDA 2.0 can support these functions for service providers using access nodes from other manufacturers by implementing them in the switches and edge routers.

Microsoft has not announced any support for these network capabilities.

This is an interesting announcement. It enables middleware companies other than Microsoft to support fast channel change. This includes both the Alcatel-Lucent MiView and OMP middleware as well as other middleware from companies such as Thomson and Orca. This approach to fast channel change will eliminate one of Microsoft's most competitive features.

This approach will give service providers new flexibility in managing the bandwidth demands from an IPTV service, especially as more and more on demand and personalized services are provided. I think the flexibility that it gives in placing storage in the network will improve the ability of service providers to optimize their networks.

ZTE IPTV System

I was at the ZTE analyst meeting in Shenzhen, China on March 25 and 26. ZTE was quite serious about its telco IPTV system. It offers an open system that combines ZTE and third party components, including:

• Headends from Tut Systems (now part of Motorola), Optibase, Tandberg TV, envivio, and Thomson
• Video On Demand Servers from ZTE
• Middleware from ZTE
• Content Security from ZTE, Irdeto and Verimatrix
• Set-top boxes from ZTE, Sunniwell, and Yuxing

ZTE stated that its systems are in more than 20 deployments and trials and are currently supporting one million telco IPTV subscribers, including

• China (with 50 percent market share according to ZTE's numbers)
• Free Internet, Thailand
• VNPT Vietnam
• Belorussian Telecom
• Progroup, Estonia
• STC, Saudi Arabia
• Emcali, Columbia
• CanTV, Venezuela

ZTE's basic business strategy is to focus on developing countries, especially China and India. This is a good strategy, since this is where the new opportunities are coming from.

Smart Telecom to Launch IPTV in Ireland

Competitive provider Smart Telecom will start a soft launch of its IPTV service in April. It will select customers on short loops in order to better manage service quality during this initial phase.

The new service will be capable of delivering more than 100 TV and radio channels to 550 thousand homes across Ireland, where it has 37 unbundled exchanges. The service will also include time shifting that can allow viewers to watch programs broadcast the previous.

Smart is making a €2.5m investment in an MPEG 4 IPTV headend and middleware solution from Thomson.

This is the second IPTV service from a competitive carrier in Ireland. It leaves Eircom with two IPTV competitors and as the only Western European incumbent with no announced plans for IPTV.

Thomson Bags Telenor

Telenor the Norwegian incumbent appears to have selected Thomson for its IPTV service. It appears that Thomson will supply middleware, video on demand servers, and set-top boxes for deployment in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Assuming that this story holds up, this is a great win for Thomson. Telenor is one of the very last Western European incumbents to selected its IPTV system vendors.

Telenor is facing strong, well entrenched competition in Scandinavia. The fiber based competitive carriers already have a strong position in the Norwegian market already. I have always wondered why Telenor has waited so long.

France Telecom Launches Soft at Home

France Telecom's Orange, Thomson and Sagem Communications have formed a joint venture called Soft At Home to create a standard for the interconnection of multimedia equipment within in the home. Soft At Home planse to create services that make it possible to access photos stored on a computer on theTV, make a telephone call using the television remote control, or even simultaneously save multimedia content, wherever the digital equipment is located in the home.

Soft At Home will use the technologies and experiences of its founding shareholders. Its software solutions are being offered to telecommunications operators, third-party developers, OEMs and manufacturers. Thomson and Sagem Communications will be incorporating the Soft At Home software into their offerings. Soft At Home has a global development ambition, and is looking to rapidly welcome new partners into its capital.

The next generation of residential gateways and TV decoders that will be used by Orange in 2008 will be equipped with Soft At Home software. Orange already serves over 6 million Liveboxes and over 1 million subscribers for its IPTV package.

Thomson provides video decoders (cable, satellite, IP) and residential gateways (DSL and cable). Furthermore, the Group’s SmartVision IPTV middleware is now used by more than 40 serivce provicers offering IPTV and mobile TV services worldwide. This system currently supports over 1.2 million IPTV users today.

Sagem Communications provides IPTV set-top boxes with about twenty roll-outs, as well as triple play residential gateways.

This appear to be a move by France Telecom to increase the stature of the Thomson and Sagem IPTV systems that it uses to compete with Microsoft's Mediaroom. Microsoft is positioned today to dominate the market with its software. Additional service service provider support would help the three Soft at Home partners to justify the investment to enhance its system to maintain its competitiveness against Microsoft's Mediaroom.