Verizon's FiOS TV added 141 thousand IPTV subscribers in the first quarter reaching a total of 348 thousand. It had 207 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 2006. Its FiOS TV penetration reached 11 percent, up from 9 percent at the end of 2006.
Verizon is adding nearly 2,200 FiOS TV subscribers to day, which is more than five times the 2,000 U-verse IPTV subscribers that ATT is adding per week. Verizon also added 78 thousand DirecTV satellite TV subscribers bringing its total satellite customers to 618 thousand.
Verizon added 177 thousand FiOS Internet subscribers and 416 thousand total broadband subscribers during the quarter. Verizon stated that nearly 60 percent of FiOS TV orders include Internet services. FiOS now accounts for 16 percent of Verizon's broadband customers.
Verizon's FiOS success story is continuing. This demonstrates the soundness of its fiber strategy. Take a look at the ATT posts in this blog from last week and the week before that showed that its IPTV subscribers grew from 3,000 to 15,000 during the first quarter. ATT's total was 18,000 in the middle of March.
ATT made much of its smarter FTTN strategy that required less investment than Verizon's FTTP approach. So far, it has not worked out that way.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Chunghwa IPTV Growth Continues
Chunghwa Telecom reached 285,111 IPTV subscribers at the end of March 2007, up 36,111 subscribers from the end of 2006. In the same quarter it added 20 thousand new ADS subscribers and 58 thousand new FTTB subscribers.
IPTV is continuing strong growth. Its 1Q07 was just a bit below the 37.5 thousand subscribers average per quarter that it achieved in 2006.
IPTV is continuing strong growth. Its 1Q07 was just a bit below the 37.5 thousand subscribers average per quarter that it achieved in 2006.
Telefonica buys into Telecom Italia
A consortium led by Telefonica is poised to spend 5.15B euros for a 23.6 percent stake in Telecom Italia. The consortium will buy Olimpia, the holding company that owns 15 percent of Telecom Italia. The members of the consortium already own 5.6 percent of Telecom Italia.
This is a bit outside of what I usually include in the blog, but I wanted to mention that this could affect Microsoft's prospects. Telecom Italia is using Alcatel-Lucent's OMP IPTV middleware but is still evaluating Microsoft's IPTV Edition middleware in its labs.
Alcatel-Lucent also the MiView TV IPTV middleware which was originally developed by Telefonica. I expect that Telefonica will encourage Telecom Italia to adopt this middleware software.
This is a bit outside of what I usually include in the blog, but I wanted to mention that this could affect Microsoft's prospects. Telecom Italia is using Alcatel-Lucent's OMP IPTV middleware but is still evaluating Microsoft's IPTV Edition middleware in its labs.
Alcatel-Lucent also the MiView TV IPTV middleware which was originally developed by Telefonica. I expect that Telefonica will encourage Telecom Italia to adopt this middleware software.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Verizon Courting MDUs
Verizon held a conference in New York City yesterday to encourage apartment building owners to bring its FiOS FTTP broadband service to their buildings. Verizon pointed to studies that indicate that a building that supports FiOS can increase 1 percent in value. Verizon expects to have most of these buildings wired for FiOS over the next three years.
Extending into MDUs can be a tough nut to crack. It can be difficult to get enough people in a building to commit to buy the new service to justify the expense of providing it. KDDI found this to be a problem in Japan. Verizon's approach of pointing out how the value of the building increases is an interesting twist, but this is likely to continue to be a tough sell.
Extending into MDUs can be a tough nut to crack. It can be difficult to get enough people in a building to commit to buy the new service to justify the expense of providing it. KDDI found this to be a problem in Japan. Verizon's approach of pointing out how the value of the building increases is an interesting twist, but this is likely to continue to be a tough sell.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Sun Defines New Approach to IPTV Networking
Sun introduced its Sun Streaming System, a video delivery system that supports both on demand and broadcast content. This system was designed to enable service providers to offer a highly personalized set of services based on delivering all traffic using unicast techniques.
IPTV broadcast channels are typically delivered using mulicast which allows viewers to share the same set of packets, thus significantly reducing network loading for this broadcast content. Of course, there is not personalization with these broadcast services since all viewers are seeing exactly the same thing.
The introduction of video on demand followed by NPVR and advanced advertising will push more and more IPTV traffic into unicast. Sun's system addresses this increased network loading by pushing the IPTV connections down to the optical layer.
The Sun Streaming System consists of the following elements:
IPTV broadcast channels are typically delivered using mulicast which allows viewers to share the same set of packets, thus significantly reducing network loading for this broadcast content. Of course, there is not personalization with these broadcast services since all viewers are seeing exactly the same thing.
The introduction of video on demand followed by NPVR and advanced advertising will push more and more IPTV traffic into unicast. Sun's system addresses this increased network loading by pushing the IPTV connections down to the optical layer.
The Sun Streaming System consists of the following elements:
- Supervisor nodes
- Controller nodes
- Session controller nodes
- Content acquisition nodes
- Media storage
- Ethernet switch
The Ethernet switch included in the Sun system is connected to a set of optical links that terminate in the video serving office with the access systems and DSLAMs that terminate the subscriber broadband connections. This approach bypasses a Layer 2 Ethernet network or Layer 3 IP network to transport video traffic to the edge.
You can get more information about the Sun Streaming System at
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/streamstar/
I have been quite concerned about how IP or Ethernet transport networks would be able to cope with the increasing loads of video traffic as IPTV services become more popular. It looks like the optical approach that Sun is offering is the right way to go.
TelecomView will release a report next week that compare IP, Ethernet, and optical approaches to IPTV networking. It will conclude that an optical will be best in the long run as the amount of unicast traffic on the network increases.
France Telecom's Will Pass 1M IPTV Subs in 2007
France Telecom ended its 1Q07 at the end of March with 745 thousand IPTV subscribers in France, up 168 thousand or 29 percent over the quarter. If this rate it will double its IPTV subscriber base during 2007 and up with well over 1 million IPTV subscribers. It had 862 thuosand video on demand views during the quarter up from 517 thousand during 4Q06.
France Telecom's IPTV service in Poland now has 9 thousand subscribers. Its total number of IPTV subscribers across all of its operations is 768 thousand, up from 229 thousand in the previous 12 months. In addition to France and Poland, France Telecom has IPTV operations in the UK, Spain, and in some of the French overseas territories.
France Telecom continues to do well. Between France Telecom, Free, and Neuf Cegetel there will be well over 3 million IPTV subscriber in France by the end of the year.
France Telecom's IPTV service in Poland now has 9 thousand subscribers. Its total number of IPTV subscribers across all of its operations is 768 thousand, up from 229 thousand in the previous 12 months. In addition to France and Poland, France Telecom has IPTV operations in the UK, Spain, and in some of the French overseas territories.
France Telecom continues to do well. Between France Telecom, Free, and Neuf Cegetel there will be well over 3 million IPTV subscriber in France by the end of the year.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
ATT Q1 Report
ATT reported that it had 13 thousand U-verse IPTV subscribers at the end of March. This was a increase of 10 thousand in the first quarter of 2007. Given its announcement of 18 thousand U-verse customers on April 18, the increase of 5 thousand subscribers since the beginning of April is consistent with its statement that it is currently adding 2 thousand subscribers a week.
ATT stated that it had 1.7 million ATT Dish Network satellite subscribers at the end of March, and increase of 1.1 million subscribers in the previous 12 months. Surprisingly, its Homezone hybrid satellite/broadband service had only 6 thousand subscribers.
ATT's performance on its ATT Dish Network bodes well for U-verse. It shows that ATT's bundling strategies can be quite effective in attracting TV viewers.
ATT stated that it had 1.7 million ATT Dish Network satellite subscribers at the end of March, and increase of 1.1 million subscribers in the previous 12 months. Surprisingly, its Homezone hybrid satellite/broadband service had only 6 thousand subscribers.
ATT's performance on its ATT Dish Network bodes well for U-verse. It shows that ATT's bundling strategies can be quite effective in attracting TV viewers.
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