MRG report provides roadmap to converged services

June 25, 2008 - A new report from Multimedia Research Group (MRG) is out to tackle the heady question of how IPTV operators can migrate to offering truly converged services, as they increasingly compete with cable, satellite and even Internet video providers in the provision of pay-TV.

Uncertainty hovers among telcos as to whether IMS is the next logical step beyond IPTV on the road to multi-service convergence, and the report aims to break the emerging multi-platform services into functional groups of Time-shifting, Place-shifting, Personalisation and Socialisation, as well as what the infrastructure requirements would be to support new features on various platforms.

“The purpose of this report was to identify if, when and how IPTV operators would move to advanced and converged (multi-platform) services,” said Gary Schultz, President of MRG. “The reality we discovered is that the interim steps to converged services—de-siloization and unification of database elements of the back office—were quickly becoming vehicles for operators to decrease OpEx and improve customer loyalty."

IMS provides a single management solution to the dilemma of having to manage multiple services, and therefore multiple sets of subscriber data and content entitlements; not to mention that it is device and access independent.  However the march towards IMS-based services is expected to take time, and telcos do not have to wait until they are ready to adopt IMS to offer converged services: features such as TV-based telephony, cross-platform messaging and remote PVR are possible by integrating with third-party applications via a Service Delivery Platform (SDP), and will help telcos differentiate themselves from cable and satellite offerings, generate new revenue and increase subscriber loyalty.

“The Millennial generation already expects video, personal communications and messaging services wherever they are, regardless of device or network,” said report author Steve Hawley, Senior IPTV Analyst for MRG. “Operators that aren't transforming their service platforms to serve these ‘digital natives’ are already at a disadvantage.”