IPTV: Technology and Development Predictions
Patrick Pfeffer2006, Fiber and Integrated Optics
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Abstract
The goal of this paper is to shed some light on the meanderings of the IPTV route. Regional Bell operating companies' (RBOCs') last chance: The RBOCs are experiencing an erosion of their access line and voice revenue. It has been compensated by the DSL growth and, for BellSouth, SBC and Verizon, the health of their cellular properties. However, as MSOs finally deploy VoIP, they become triple-play providers. The RBOCs must add video to their voice and data offering. It is a pivotal moment for the RBOCs; they have no choice but to succeed. The RBOCs already tried video service in the mid-'90s; they failed miserably and at great expense. This time around, anything other than complete success will spell their demise. The current asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) network cannot support IPTV. It must be overhauled. Trenches have to be dug, fiber/copper have to be installed, and new outside electronic equipment-new routers, a new OSS/BSS, a video head end, a video server, a set-top box (STB) or set-top terminal (STT)-have to be purchased. This heavy investment should allow the telecom equipment manufacturers that have survived the nuclear telecom winter to enjoy some springlike weather. It will also lead to further concentration in the industry. IPTV-Microsoft's Trojan horse for the living room?: Microsoft has won major IPTV deals, making its MSTV middleware solution the de facto reference. After dominating the office desktop, it is clear that Microsoft is positioning itself to dominate the living room. Microsoft is offering one-stop shopping for acquisition server, delivery server, video server, and digital rights management; but at its core, it is an operating system company. It will integrate features into the operating system of the STB or STT as it sees fit and will most likely exit peripheral businesses (video server for example). Small is beautiful: There are many successful deployments of IPTV across the world. Most of them are by small or medium-size operators. Large operators are struggling. Five facts about middleware: 1. More than 50 percent of the effort to develop and integrate middleware with the rest of the system is spent on the STB. 2. Middleware scales well, and supporting hardware is not a cost factor. 3. Middleware database is small by today's database standard. 4. Scripting language in the STB is too slow. Java is better, but embedded C/C++ offers the best performance. 5. A middleware client program has a small object footprint (below 32 MB). The last 100 meters: Telcos have a good understanding of the core/metro network and the outside loop. The challenges of the last 100 meters remain. Most IPTV providers confess that it still takes an average of four hours to set up a customer (including network access termination). A
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