The jewel in the crown

Interview with Stéfane France, Director of International Television for Orange

To launch and maintain a successful IPTV service in today's cutthroat pay-TV markets is no mean feat. To become the world's most successful IPTV operator, with operations across a swathe of Europe and beyond now totalling 1.535mn subs (including becoming a part of the family for 1.389mn French households) since the launch of Orange TV in 2003, is nothing short of brilliance. France is recognised globally as the engine-room of IPTV in Europe, and it is the country's former incumbent which plays a star role.

ISPs - up to the IPTV challenge?

By Paul Hague, Managing Director, BiBC

IP and Internet TV is increasing in penetration at a truly rapid pace. Ever since YouTube began to reveal just some of the potential of the Internet medium, a race has ensued to create what will inevitably become the future of visual content provision. In all certainty all of us working in the exciting online and IPTV (next-gen TV) space are working toward what is the death knell of traditional ‘broadcast’ television. Whether complete convergence finally happens, as has been long predicted, or we end up using a hybrid computer/TV device to sort through the databases of shows as we desire, things are changing and they’re changing fast.

Building a new business model for television – how telcos can succeed with IPTV

by John Reister, Chief Architect, BigBand Networks

These are exciting times for IPTV. Research firm Infonetics projects that IPTV subscribers will grow to 53.7mn worldwide by 2009 and generate US$38bn in revenues for service providers. Investments by telcos in the necessary equipment are also expected to grow significantly. Infonetics, a market research firm, predicts that IPTV equipment sales will increase from $371mn to $6.8bn between 2005 and 2009.

The need for live monitoring for IPTV deployments

By Kaynam Hedayat, Senior Director of Product Development, EXFO Service Assurance

Rolling out IPTV is an expensive and extremely complex proposition. Broadcast and on-demand video services are new territory for telecommunications service providers, and there are a number of technical challenges involved, including building a new service delivery network that can handle the increased bandwidth needs of IPTV, re-engineering the core network to support video services, and adding new technologies for video content management, distribution, and billing.

How user-focused innovation can accelerate mass adoption of IPTV

When it comes to mass market consumerism there are four products that chart modern life; the car, the mobile phone, the PC and the television. Each, to varying extents, is experiencing levels of convergence, especially from the pull generated by the broadening distribution of digital content. So why, despite analyst predictions, have we yet to see the mass adoption of IPTV services? Gus Desbarats, Chairman of design consultancy TheAlloy, argues that the challenge originates from deep rooted misunderstanding of the user experience, an area better tackled by the design industry.

The changing value of content in the digital age

By Jeffrey Soong, CEO of BNS Ltd

“Change” as a word and concept seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. But forgetting the ubiquitous Climate Change for a moment, the reason for this is that change is something that touches all parts of life, some in more obvious and some in more subtle ways. Content is of course no exception and of late has been particularly vulnerable to two major change agents: social change and technology advancements.

Plug into Powerline

By Victor Dominguez, Vice President of Sales at DS2

Home media is so big today. Whether it’s downloading videos from YouTube, or downloading audio from iTunes or just looking at your own digital photos, you need a network solution to move all this great digital content throughout the home for easy, instant and convenient viewing. UPA powerline products allow you to build or extend a home network to reach any area of your home. The network medium is the household electric wiring. Once you plug one UPA powerline product into a power outlet, any other outlet on the same circuit can then be used to make a network connection by just plugging another adapter into another outlet and connecting the adapters to the devices you want to network.

US operators have a "clear idea of where they want to take interactive services"

Interview with Arman Aygen, Business Development Manager, Witbe

Following a busy couple of days at the IPTV World Forum North America in Chicago for QoE specialists Witbe, we spoke to Arman Aygen, Business Development Manager for the French firm, to see which North American telcos might be joining the roll-call of European Tier-1 operators such as Orange and Telefónica that make up Witbe's client list.

Spyware in my TV?

By David Noguer Bau, Head of Carrier Ethernet and Multiplay Marketing for EMEA. Juniper Networks

“Last evening I could not watch the football match as I had a virus in my television” - It may sound like science fiction but users could be confronted with this reality sooner than expected. With the growth of IPTV services across Europe, subscribers can enjoy a range of new and innovative services but could security breaches challenge this new opportunity?

Is your network ready for the Olympics?

By Nigel Hawthorn, VP EMEA Marketing, Blue Coat Systems

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games promise online access like no other. For the first time in history, viewers can have 24/7 coverage of Olympic events, in many cases without delay and without a broadcast television network deciding what you watch and when. Through the Internet, viewers get instant access to the events they want to see.