IPTV

Until recently, the words “triple play” only referred to a rare and well-executed act in baseball. Nowadays, however, providers of voice, video, and data services have appropriated the term for converged networks, upped the ante with wireless services to create a “quad play,” and, as a result, revved up consumer enthusiasm. Next at bat from the services industry’s exciting 2007 line-up is IPTV.

 

While IPTV (News - Alert) — television over Internet Protocol — is not widely deployed in the U.S., interest is mounting. The recent buzz at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES (News - Alert)) centered on Cisco and Microsoft’s ambitions in the IPTV space, and other companies are increasingly well aware of the associated benefits, bells and whistles. IPTV, enabled via a set-top box or viewed on a PC, makes interactive television an exciting, real-time possibility.

 

Commonly touted IPTV benefits include an almost unlimited array of available channels, the ability to watch multiple shows at once and real-time conferencing capabilities. Other IPTV features on the horizon include the delivery of cross-platform or “blended” applications.

 

 

The Technology Behind IPTV and the Delivery of Blended Applications 

The Internet enables dynamic data flow by breaking each piece of content into small “packets” and routing them, potentially over widely varying paths, to their destination, where they are assembled into the end product. Thus, IP allows data to flow dynamically through the network, taking alternate routes when congestion occurs, while also enabling packets from multiple sources to “share” a single service line.

 

What this means is both simple and important: Data can easily flow from multiple service networks in a quad play ecosystem to a user’s set-top box, enabling a variety of new and cutting-edge features that integrate television with other services traditionally carried over IP. And while IPTV is an exciting medium in itself, the applications that can be delivered across it generate even more cause for enthusiasm.

 

With the deployment of a network-based, converged service delivery platform that works with legacy equipment, is cost-effective and supports all telephony environments, the delivery of blended applications and services become an experience-oriented reality. Service providers can focus on developing and marketing applications that tie together the myriad basic services/devices they have already sold to their subscribers — video (TV), voice (telephone), wireless (mobile phone), and broadband (PC) — and they can focus on forging a meaningful and memorable experience, delivered to consumers across all their in-home devices.

 

The basis for these experiences lies in taking integrated services and creating a focal point. With the proliferation of HDTV, video on demand (VoD) and digital video recorders (DVRs) — coupled with customer fervor for big screen plasmas and LCDs — TVs have become the centerpiece in consumers’ homes. With a scalable platform that is standards-based, switch agnostic, and flexible enough to support next generation equipment, service providers can hit a home run by offering blended services that target the television and take advantage of IPTV.

 

Not only are the possibilities mind-boggling, but they’re also right around the corner. Picture this:

 

You’re nestled in your worn, comfy recliner, watching your favorite television program, when you receive a phone call. Before the phone even rings, though, a caller ID and picture caller ID alert flashes onto your television. Want to send the call straight to voicemail? Want to let it ring? Or (it must be a commercial…) prefer to answer it? You can choose any option with your remote control.

 

As king or queen of the remote, you have unbridled power. If a pizza commercial makes your mouth water, “click to call” options on advertisements can make that “Extra-cheese, Pepperoni Supreme” yours. What’s more, RSS feeds, SMS messages, customized advertisements and customized news alerts can be delivered straight to your television screen. Multitasking has never been so easy!

 

With IPTV and, more importantly, with a flexible converged service delivery platform, these situations become not-so-hypothetical scenarios.

In addition to being hungry for that “Pepperoni Supreme,” customers are also hungry for these aforementioned applications, a fact backed up by real-world results. Take a look at Hargray Communications, a South Carolina-based IOC with a converged services delivery platform in its network that allows for the delivery of TV caller ID — a blended voice, video, and data application. The company recently surveyed its TV caller ID customers regarding their level of satisfaction. Although Hargray currently offers the service free of charge, the vast majority of respondents were willing to pay up to $3/month for it. In fact, 91 percent of respondents “like” or “love” their TV caller ID.

 

Reasons varied. Armand D. enjoys “special psychic powers,” predicting who will call his house before the telephone even begins its signature ring. For Teresa S., glancing at her TV caller ID is hassle-free in comparison with rushing to view caller ID on her phone. Meanwhile, Zeke J. provides what we hope can be chalked up to levity: “With TV caller ID, I don’t even have to run to the nearest phone in order to ignore my wife while I’m watching my favorite sports programs.”

 

For service providers, the benefits of blended applications are no joke. In fact, Comporium Communications, which provides services to residential and commercial customers in South Carolina, rolled out TV caller ID to differentiate itself from satellite competitors and boost revenue. The company was not disappointed.

 

After offering TV caller ID, Comporium saw an 85 percent year-over-year increase in net subscribers and significantly increased annual revenue. In fact, after just three months of offering the service, Comporium was able to up-sell nine percent of its subscribers to digital cable. Converged applications allow service providers to hit the ball out of the park.

 

 

The Technological Implications 

So what are the key technologies that make these revolutions possible? Although IP certainly is an important enabler, the greater convergence picture requires additional infrastructure, and unfortunately, interoperability between new services and legacy equipment is not a given. With that in mind, the IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS) specification and Service Delivery Platforms (SDPs) come into play.

 

IMS, once pertinent only to the 3G mobile network domain, now is an integral enabler of fixed-mobile convergence and of increasing importance to wireline networks. IMS effectively decouples applications from the underlying network structure and makes it more cost-effective to develop applications that can traverse many types of networks and devices. IMS allows service providers and operators to employ different underlying architectures, facilitates the deployment of IP-based services and is access independent — all qualities that support today’s converged service delivery platforms.

 

Furthermore, adoption of an SDP infrastructure assists in the creation and deployment of converged multimedia services. SDPs allow service providers to roll out advanced services in today’s hybrid (TDM and IP) networks and transition them as they evolve to IMS. SDPs also decouple applications from the business support system (BSS) and operation support system (OSS), making it cost-effective to bind applications with existing billing, provisioning and trouble ticketing systems. Moreover, a converged service delivery platform, as alluded to above, has all the advantages of a traditional SDP and allows for the deployment of blended applications with minimal integration work.

 

Lastly, while IP provides the traffic management necessary to simultaneously send multiple services to end users, the user experience is strongly affected by the amount of bandwidth available at the set-top box. The simple fact is that the “size of the pipe” limits data flow efficiency. Service providers have been working on improving this situation for years, and with increased bandwidth to the home, large-scale deployment of fixed-mobile converged services is taking off.

 

 

In Conclusion 

IPTV and the services that it enables are viable, exciting and laden with possibilities. Although an important part, IPTV is only one piece of a service provider’s package. By thinking “beyond the bundle” and catering to customers’ desire for personalization, service providers can increase customer satisfaction, boost up-sells and drive revenue. Faced with today’s fierce competition to attract and retain loyal customers, service providers will find that the figurative ball game is theirs to be won with converged service delivery platforms and the blended applications they support.