"The time is right for IPTV"

IPTV has been a buzzword for close to ten years now (writes Ron Levin, Associate VP of Product Marketing, Network Solutions Division at ECI Telecom). While deployments are happening around the world, to a degree, the “explosion” has not yet taken place.  There may never be a better time to deploy IPTV, as TV networks switch from analogue to digital and from standard to high definition.

TV consumers worldwide who are migrating to new hardware are the ideal targets for IPTV-based services. These consumers will see a level of convenience and personalisation in IPTV that cannot be delivered otherwise. For operators that provide a good quality of experience IPTV will bring customer loyalty - crucial at a time of increasing churn - by offering a more enjoyable and interactive user experience. Looking to the future, IPTV will be the catalyst for rolling out high-speed broadband technologies such as FTTx, which then create the possibility of offering additional bandwidth-hungry applications.

IPTV is complex, however, and is a major investment. Success, defined as an attractive, problem-free service that delivers ROI in a realistic timeframe, will only come if the project is planned and executed properly, with a networking partner experienced in deploying large IPTV networks.  And still, all challenges considered, IPTV is too important an opportunity to miss.

IPTV: why now?
Upheaval is taking place in the video/TV industry. Both the creation and distribution of content are changing quickly. On the creation side, barriers to entry for alternative content producers are negligible, as broadcast-quality video production equipment has become affordable for almost anyone. Amateurs recording local community events such as sports or school graduation ceremonies, can now create summary programs from their hours of video, align separate audio and video tracks from different devices and add video effects such as fades from one camera or scene to another. As a result, the availability of good quality user-generated content is increasing fast.  With additional bandwidth and lower costs, there is opportunity to offer these narrowcast programs that would not previously have been economically viable.

On the distribution side, technologies that have lasted decades are being replaced. Terrestrial broadcasters are migrating to digital only, while newer alternatives are also supplanting videotape. As new, all-digital networks introduce high-definition broadcasts, the Blu-Ray standard is incorporated into newer DVDs, and the standard HDMI connector is used on newer equipment, consumers are enjoying the image quality improvement that we last saw when colour TV appeared.

Consumption patterns are changing, too. Social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube are becoming more important information channels. People who watch video clips on such sites do so often from handheld devices, which have specific form factor issues.

Consumers must upgrade CPE
Consumers are now being forced to upgrade to new display and delivery equipment, thanks to the analogue phase out. As they upgrade, they have no reason to stick with their current content delivery system(s) and service providers. Consumers are primarily interested in pricing, service and content availability and quality, rather than the delivery mechanism.   It’s trite, but true, to say that consumers care about content not technology. 

The introduction of all-digital HDTV means consumers will have to upgrade all video equipment, including the set-top boxes (STBs) that deliver the content from different sources. They also need to change subscription packages to receive an HD service. Consumers are likely to look at well-marketed alternative video delivery and consumption methods. IPTV can offer unique attractions to such consumers.

The bandwidth advantage
One critical advantage that IPTV presents, compared to other delivery mechanisms such as cable and satellite, is its ability to gracefully handle bandwidth increases. IPTV delivery is also not affected by changes in media type from xDSL to WiMAX to various forms of fibre.

Modern IPTV deployments use standard IP networking protocols on an Ethernet MAC layer. Because such networks do not require encapsulation and are essentially asynchronous, they handle bandwidth oversubscription gracefully and make it simple to upgrade overloaded links when required.  Furthermore, IPTV is cost effective. The use of standard mature protocols allows the reuse of chipsets and stacks developed for other applications. This reduces the requirement to recoup development costs in the product price.

Lastly, IPTV offers the ideal way for fixed-line operators to protect future revenues from competitors unable to offer the same bandwidth. In the past, subscribers were willing to stick with their network operator because of the quality and reliability of voice service offered. Currently, these voice revenues are declining due to competition from mobile, VoIP and MSOs. Operators thus have an incentive to look for another source of revenue. As video places large demands on bandwidth, the only way to deliver a high-quality personalised experience over a large screen is via a dedicated terrestrial link.  IPTV provides a way for operators to develop future business as other offerings decline in value.

Meeting end user and provider requirements
To be successful, an IPTV rollout must meet the needs of the main stakeholders:

The content provider
Major content providers will ask why they need to support yet another distribution method. One reason is that IPTV makes it easier to limit pirating of content. A second is that they would like to leverage under-utilised content. Since IPTV can provide multicast and unicast capabilities in addition to traditional broadcast, the ability to freeload and watch unpaid-for content is limited. The large amount of bandwidth available also means that niche programming can be supported easily, providing another revenue source for content providers.

IPTV can also allow content from smaller, more local providers to be distributed efficiently to their own area. Lower price, simpler content creation tools and targeted distribution mean that many communities will be able to create and distribute content geared to their own interests.

The network provider (business planning)‏
For the network provider, IPTV is seen as a way to differentiate its offerings from its competitors’. The aim is also to increase loyalty by giving subscribers no reason to look at alternative entertainment options. It is also seen as a way to increase average revenue per subscriber (ARPU).

The network provider (technical requirements)‏
Technically, IPTV is a demanding application, although it is a challenge that many engineers relish. Not only does it have a large bandwidth requirement, but it tends to be relatively intolerant of latency variations. In a non-oversubscribed network this is acceptable, but business drivers mean that the network is unlikely to remain comparatively unused. Once contention occurs, techniques such as QoS may be implemented to allow prioritisation of TV channels, but care needs to be taken to ensure that other traffic (e.g., voice, data) is not completely locked out.

Efficient use of bandwidth will require IP multicast to be used, which must be well implemented by equipment vendors. Furthermore, the IP equipment must support fast joins/leaves of multicast streams.

Clearly, current market opportunities and technology maturity make IPTV attractive to operators.  But IPTV deployment is a major undertaking, where every detail must be right if ROI is to be achieved – using the right equipment and finding partners with the necessary experience.

The triumvirate:  capacity, security and flexibility
There are many detailed requirements for a successful IPTV network, but they can all be pretty much covered under the headings of capacity, security and flexibility.

Flexibility
Except for the extremely rare case in which an operator has a pure green field build-out, any IPTV deployment will have to make use of existing infrastructure and will almost certainly need to use a mix of subscriber connection methods. Furthermore, in the case of xDSL, the street equipment that serves them will usually have to support subscribers using POTS/ISDN or Internet-only xDSL services. Finally, any provider, even a green field one, will discover that some locations require larger-sized distribution devices than others. Flexibility also means the ability to cope with bandwidth demand changes and to upgrade certain links to higher bandwidths without impacting the entire network.

Security
Security is a critical issue for any network.  IPTV, with its requirements for service continuity and content protection, makes this even more the case.

Capacity
Bandwidth capacity is an obvious IPTV requirement, particularly in HDTV forms. The potentially overwhelming bandwidth requirement, combined with the need to support other services such as voice and Internet access, means the network must include elements that can intelligently optimise traffic patterns.

Get it right, right now
Now is the perfect moment to deploy IPTV. At a time when advanced IPTV and broadband technologies have created a superior user experience, there comes a once-in-decades chance to capture potential subscribers who need to update their TV/video display equipment to continue to watch standard broadcast TV (and possibly to watch in HD). Never before in TV history has backward compatibility been eliminated, and it is unlikely to happen again in the foreseeable future. A high quality IPTV solution can gain subscribers attracted to levels of convenience and personalisation that other content distribution channels cannot match.

However, business success also requires the right technical solution. Only a high quality network and reliable, easy-to-use services will result in success. Deployment of network equipment ensures that the network's key requirements – capacity, security and flexibility – are met.