Using Siemens’ SURPASS instead of the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition

A video on demand service will initially offer 150 movies a month as well as selected programming from domestic channels RTL and Nova TV. There will also be interactive content such as news, weather reports, horoscopes and road reports. Customers can now also surf the net on their TV sets and, in the future, will be able to record broadcasts on equipment either on their own premises or provided via the carrier’s network.

Promotional period

The cost for activating the MAXtv service, which includes the set-top box, is HRK 300 (EUR 41) during the promotional period, while the full cost of the device is HRK 599 (EUR 82). The installation of the equipment, if requested by the user, costs HRK 99 (EUR 13), while the monthly fee for the MAXtv service will be HRK 65 (EUR 9). During the promotional period, which lasts until until the end of 2006, the monthly fee will be a symbolic HRK 1. Users accessing the video movie archive will pay an additional HRK 5 to HRK 15 per movie. The MAXtv service will initially be available in 22 cities to users of T-Com’s ADSL service MAXadsl, who have a 5 Mbps broadband connection. The technology of the MAXtv IPTV package is based on the SURPASS Home Entertainment solution from Siemens Communications. Siemens provided the entire IPTV system as a turnkey solution for Croatian T-Com, which includes management systems for all the applications, digital rights management and the integration of different manufacturers’ set-top boxes. The system uses MPEG-4 (H.264) compression to facilitate the introduction of HDTV over DSL at a later date. Kreatel 1710 settop boxes are connected to the ADSL modem via Ethernet cable and then to the TV set via a SCART connection. T-Com is providing subscribers with Siemens Gigaset SE555dsl and Zyxel 660 HW WLAN routers. MAXtv does not use any smartcards nor is the service scrambled.

During trials it turned out that many Croatians living outside urban areas were unable to access the service due to the poor quality of the existing telecommunications infrastructure. This is somewhat ironic as the MAXtv service is supposedly mainly aimed at those living in areas of the country without cable TV or video clubs. So it is imperative that T-Com makes major investments in upgrading the fixed-line network to guarantee a chance for success for MAXtv, especially as competitors are also launching into IPTV.

T-Com’s rival Vodatel launched in August and is offering a cheaper triple-play package, but it is only available in the capital, Zagreb. It has succeeded in signing up 550 subscribers so far, charging HRK 200 (EUR 27) a month. The triple-play service should roll-out nationwide over the coming five years and require a 10 Mbps broadband connection. Other details concerning T-Com, Primatel and additional Croatian IPTV competitors may be found in the September issue of ipTV News Analyst.      Report: Branislav Pekic