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.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Nokia Siemens Gives Up on GPON
Nokia Siemens announced that it will limit its investment in GPON because it does not expect mass market rollout of FTTH in the short term. Instead, Nokia Siemens will focus on ADSL-2+ and VDSL along with the development of next generation PON technology.
These next generation technologies include DWDM PON that can significantly expand the capacity of each fiber along with Hybrid PON that can extend the range of PON loops and facilitate the deployment of non-blocking IPTV aggregation/access networks.
DWDM PON will be enable the deployment of much higher speed PON services to each home and business. This will enable PON to meet future bandwidth requirements and extend PON into a broad set of business and enterprise applications.
Hybrid PON will permit the OLTs to be collocated in IPTV regional video headends, for example and create a network of dedicated connections to each subscriber. This will provide non-blocking access to each subscriber for unicast, on demand content. A 100 percent unicast service, such as this, will be required to support network PVR and interactive advertising applications.
This is a risky bet. If Nokia Siemens can beat it its competition to these new PON technology, it should be a winning bet. On the other hand, it will be hard for the company to maintain a strong focus on PON when it is not actively participating in the market.
These next generation technologies include DWDM PON that can significantly expand the capacity of each fiber along with Hybrid PON that can extend the range of PON loops and facilitate the deployment of non-blocking IPTV aggregation/access networks.
DWDM PON will be enable the deployment of much higher speed PON services to each home and business. This will enable PON to meet future bandwidth requirements and extend PON into a broad set of business and enterprise applications.
Hybrid PON will permit the OLTs to be collocated in IPTV regional video headends, for example and create a network of dedicated connections to each subscriber. This will provide non-blocking access to each subscriber for unicast, on demand content. A 100 percent unicast service, such as this, will be required to support network PVR and interactive advertising applications.
This is a risky bet. If Nokia Siemens can beat it its competition to these new PON technology, it should be a winning bet. On the other hand, it will be hard for the company to maintain a strong focus on PON when it is not actively participating in the market.
New Ruckus 802.11n Product Test
Light Reading published an article that describes is test of a new Ruckus 802.11n wireless system. It used AT&T's U-verse as part of the test. The stress consisted of watching an HD stream while recording two other HD streams. Light Reading said that the new Ruckus system experienced no problems with this scenario.
The Telcos have been waiting for a wireless system that is robust enough to handle IPTV. According to this test, 802.11n, at least with the Ruckus enhancements, can do it.
The Telcos have been waiting for a wireless system that is robust enough to handle IPTV. According to this test, 802.11n, at least with the Ruckus enhancements, can do it.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Deutsche Telekom Selects Three IPTV Finalists
Deutsche Telekom has winnowed its 10 semifinalists in its IPTV applications contest down to three finalists:
Deutsche Telekom will have an event on August 29, 2008 during IFA where it will present the concepts and product developments of the three finalists live. It is taking reservations for the meeting until August 25, 2008 at the following email (please include the number of people attending): interactivetvaward@telekom.de
This contest is proceeding. It will be interesting to see who the winner will be. It will be even more interesting to see how successful the winning application will be compared to the better losers.
- An Instant Information System that combines interactive TV and Internet media so that it can be accessed and retrieved at any time and place without a break in either media or entertainment.
- The user can share with family members relevant content such as news, photos and videos across media – Internet, TV and the mobile – and update a joint calendar.
- Viewers “meet” friends and acquaintances, share content and make new contacts. Via feeds shared interests are discovered and new interests are stimulated. Viewers form communities and communities extend their network.
Deutsche Telekom will have an event on August 29, 2008 during IFA where it will present the concepts and product developments of the three finalists live. It is taking reservations for the meeting until August 25, 2008 at the following email (please include the number of people attending): interactivetvaward@telekom.de
This contest is proceeding. It will be interesting to see who the winner will be. It will be even more interesting to see how successful the winning application will be compared to the better losers.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Netflix to Make Videos Available to the Microsoft Xbox 360
Netflix will make a library of more than 10 thousand movies and TV episodes available when it launches on Xbox Live toward the end of 2008. This is an extension of the Netflix Live service that provides the ability to watch videos on a PC today. The Xbox Live service will provide the ability to watch the Netflix videos on TVs.
This is an interesting announcement because it brings over the top Internet TV to the TV set rather than the PC. I think that this is where commercial video content needs to go to really capture a significance audience.
The key will be the quality of experience. It is likely that most U.S. broadband users will get a good SD experience on their TV but will not be able to stream HD. This will show up the bandwidth limitations of most U.S. broadband services.
This is an interesting announcement because it brings over the top Internet TV to the TV set rather than the PC. I think that this is where commercial video content needs to go to really capture a significance audience.
The key will be the quality of experience. It is likely that most U.S. broadband users will get a good SD experience on their TV but will not be able to stream HD. This will show up the bandwidth limitations of most U.S. broadband services.
BT's FTTH Plans
BT announced a $3B plan to deploy FTTH services to as many as 10 million homes by 2012. Ir plans to offer speeds up to 100 Mbps.
It stated that a supportive regulatory environment is essential for this program to take place. This would include removing current barriers to investment and making sure that any company investing in fiber can earn a fair rate of return.
BT also stated that it is committed to wholesaling its new services. It will press for any other next generation access network in the UK to be open to all companies as well.
This is a necessary move by BT. HD is becoming a major competitive issue for TV services in the UK. It will be interesting to see how much of a problem the regulatory issues become.
It stated that a supportive regulatory environment is essential for this program to take place. This would include removing current barriers to investment and making sure that any company investing in fiber can earn a fair rate of return.
BT also stated that it is committed to wholesaling its new services. It will press for any other next generation access network in the UK to be open to all companies as well.
This is a necessary move by BT. HD is becoming a major competitive issue for TV services in the UK. It will be interesting to see how much of a problem the regulatory issues become.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Ofcom Says 68% of UK TVs Are Connected to Digital Services
Ofcom, the UK regulator, published and article that stated that 68 percent of the 60 million TVs in teh UK are connected to digital services. The full study is also available on its website.
- There are over 10 million households with 23 million TVs using the Freeview digital terrestrial service.
- Sky has 8.3 million subscribers to its satellite service
- Virgin Media has 3.5 million subscribers to its cable services
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