UTStarcom Cuts IPTV Deal in Europe

UTStarcom has entered into a partnership with Kapsch CarrierCom to provide next-generation broadband technology for IPTV in Central and Eastern Europe. The companies will start the new offering at the IPTV World Forum Eastern Europe being held later this week in Budapest, Hungary.

The Alameda, Calif.-based telecommunications-services provider said that through Kapsch CarrierCom it will supply its portfolio of broadband solutions, which will enable operators and Internet service providers to bring IPTV, and other next-generation services to consumers across the region.

"Kapsch CarrierCom is renowned throughout Eastern and Central Europe as a provider of cutting-edge, world-class communications technology and excellent, local customer service," UTStarcom said. "We are anticipating massive growth in the demand for broadband in this region: unbundling is taking off, interconnection charges are going down, and we are confident that, together with Kapsch CarrierCom, we can meet the needs of this emerging market."

Kapsch CarrierCom specializes in communication solutions for operators of fixed and mobile networks for voice and data transmission.

French ISP to launch IPTV on Microsoft platform

Club Internet, a French ISP that is part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, has announced plans to launch an IPTV service later this month that will be the first such service in France to be based on Microsoft TV's IPTV Edition platform. The service, which will be part of a triple-play offering, will be based on a hard disk-equipped set-top box from Linksys. Club Internet says that the service will be HD-ready, and will be designed to supplement free-to-air digital terrestrial television. According to the company, it will provide multichannel TV, over 1,100 hours of VOD and SVOD programming, PVR functionality with 50 hours of recording capacity, instantaneous channel-changing, picture-in-picture capability, and a two-week EPG that will allow viewers to search for programs by actors' names and other criteria, while continuing to watch programming. Equipped with 1,000 VOD and SVOD programs and 150 TV programs, Club Internet television service will provide the consumer with real added value thanks to its user-friendly interface. With this new generation of digital television, Club Internet is revolutionizing IPTV and inventing television on-demand.

Hathway in Triple Play

Hathway is taking the acquisition route to widen its footprint. Local cable networks in Chandigarh, Mohali and Kanpur were gobbled up early this year to gain foothold in new territories, all northern prosperous markets where digital cable and broadband have potential to take off. Such buyouts, though, will be selective and limited. But coming after years of inaction, Hathway sees an opportunity in growing along with the digital market.

Competition also means that Hathway will have to protect its own turf as DTH gets aggressive with full content and more service providers. With Tata Sky preparing for launch soon and Subhash Chandra's Dish TV recently sewing a deal with SET-Discovery for a whole host of channels including Sony TV, Max, Discovery and Ten Sports, the writing is on the wall: cable will have to move in fast to migrate its customers from analogue to digital.

Hathway's initial task is to defend its direct points and the creamy customers of the local cable operators. They will have to persuade their direct customers and the top-end subscribers of local cable operators to opt for digital cable as they will form the main target for DTH service providers.

So far, that has been an agonisingly slow process. Hathway has managed to deploy just under 50,000 digital set-top boxes (STBs), mainly in its direct points. The distribution chain has not been supportive (only one-fifth of the last mile operators (LMOs) have been co-operative). For energising the chain, Hathway is giving operators Rs 400 per digital STB. And on niche content, the multi-system operator (MSO) parts with a 50 per cent share on margins. Besides, operators who buy STBs on bulk are given discounts.But how does Hathway woo customers and make them switch from analogue to digital? One way is to offer bundled packages along with the cable internet services. The idea is to lock in customers with ARPUs over a longer period while driving sales of digital STBs.

There are various schemes launched over a month-long period. Internet subscribers who have been sitting with Hathway for two years will be given the digital box free to use for a year. They will also have the option to buy the box for Rs 500 (box costs Rs 3375) but have to remain as Hathway's internet customer for the whole year. Boxes are available at Rs 1,000 for one-year-old customers. And for an existing internet subscriber who has not completed a year, the box is sold at Rs 2750 while Globus (retail store) coupon of Rs 500 is given along with a 20 per cent discount on Onkyo Home Theatres. New internet customers who subscribe to a minimum period of six months will have the option to buy the box for Rs 1000.

Hathway is backing up the price incentives with a dose of marketing, unprecedented in the Indian cable TV industry. Discount coupons, roadshows, FM radio stations, hoardings, interactive contests - all these media vehicles are being used to promote digital cable. And it has a staff of 70 people on sales and customer support for the digital services. Hathway's monthly ad spend is Rs 800000-100000. They are now selling 5,000 boxes a month which is still low, but there has been an improvement in offtake. Tieing up with companies for discounts and co-branding is another exercise Hathway has started. Hathway is going to tie up with Citibank for a co-branded credit card which they will offer to their internet customers. For digital cable, they are in talks with Onida for discount offers.

Lining up premium content is not a focus area. Hathway, though, has launched an ad-free dial-up interactive music channel I-TV through its digital services. The channel, which is currently available in Mumbai and Pune, will also be taken to other cities. Hathway has also introduced gaming on its digital services last month, for which it has selected NDS technology.

Hathway is creating another arsenal for its fight against DTH. Plans are on to launch VoIP (voice over internet protocol) services by the end of the fiscal. Having built a two-way infrastructure for broadband, this is a natural progression for the MSO. Analogue telephony has been tested with Bharti but hathway considers VoIP as a better option. VoIP test is going on in Mumbai. They are planning to launch at least in two cities this fiscal where they can bundle cable TV, broadband and VoIP services to customers which will add to their revenue streams.

Dish TV planning to increase transponder capacity

Dishtv has expressed serious intent to increase its channel offerings on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform. The company has selected Scopus Video Networks, a provider of digital video networking products, to support this expansion.

The technology will help Dishtv pack up 28 channels per transponder, eight more than its current capacity.Dishtv will be implementing this technology within a month. It is a better compression system without sacrificing the quality.Dishtv has seven transponders on NSS-6, offering a total of 130 channels. Now it is building up the capability to offer more channels on their DTH platform. Dishtv will use Scopus products to enhance its transponders' utilization and expand its already fast growing DTH market share throughout the Indian subcontinent. The decision to tie up with Scopus comes ahead of Tata Sky's DTH launch expected in July.


The deal brings to Dishtv's headend Scopus' full line of products including E-1200 encoders, IRD-2900 decoders, IVG-7100 intelligent video gateway (IVG) platforms and network management system software. Scopus is a Nasdaq-listed company. Scopus' IVG platform will provide advanced video processing capabilities including joint transrating, grooming and bit rate shaping. India is beginning its transition to digital TV in which the number of digital subscribers is expected to grow ten-fold within the next five years.

Reliance expects to Offer Triple Play @ $30 per month

Prakash Bajpai, president of Reliance Infocomm, thinks a bouquet of voice, data, gaming and IPTV services can be offered at less than $30 a month for home user. Speaking at a panel session on IPTV at the Broadband World Forum Asia in Hong Kong, Bajpai said, “For residential customers we can offer integrated service bundles on an Ethernet pipe, including voice, basic Internet access, a Wi-Fi network for your home, a Web site with email, anti-virus and anti-spam service, video surveillance, wireless streaming, IPTV and gaming for around $30 a month.” The IPTV portion of the bundle would be less than $7.00. However, affordability, multilingual content etc will still remain key issue for the take-off of broadband in India, he siad. Bajpai also said that by 2010, India will have 50 million residential/SOHO broadband customers paying at least $15 a month for services, which works out to $9 billion in potential revenue.

Freebox offers the most powerful Set Top Box (STB)

The new Freebox offering consists of two set-top boxes, a multimedia box called HD Freebox and a network box called ADSL Freebox. This innovative new series is the fruit of two years’ research and development work, and integrates all the most advanced technologies including ADSL 2+, high-definition television, WiFi MIMO, a DTT tuner, mobile telephony over WiFi and a number of other functionalities. For receiving IPTV video services, the HD Freebox contains an SD and HD decoder - a DTT tuner which can be used to access the 18 DTT channels, including TF1 and M6, SCART, S-Video and composite S-video connectors, an HDMI connector to connect an HD-Ready television, an S/P-DIF and digital audio output to connect a hi-fi, and three antennas for wireless connection to the ADSL box. The new HD Freebox and ADSL Freebox are available now and being issued to new subscribers immediately

The new HD Freebox and ADSL Freebox are now being deployed by Free, the rapidly growing broadband ISP operator in France and sister company to Freebox within the Iliad Group. Free was the first operator to provide broadband television services, broadband telephone services, and triple play services to the French market. Continuing with their trend of innovation, Free is now offering improved triple-play communication services and the first high-definition IPTV video services in Europe.

Free reached the end of March 2006 with 1.8 million subscribers and expects to have over 2 million subscribers by the end of this year. The charge for the Free broadband package remains unchanged at €29.99 per month, with the Freebox provided free of charge throughout the duration of the subscription. This means that customers can make even more savings on their household bills, because, as part of the inclusive package (Internet, telephone service, television, telephone line rental, unlimited calls to landline phones in mainland France and to 14 international destinations, and mobile telephony), they will also be provided with all their equipment (ADSL2+ modem, HDTV decoder, DTT tuner, Mediacenter, WiFi MIMO, multi-device tuner).

About the SMP8634

Sigma’s SMP8634 media processor provides a complete system-on-chip (SOC) solution with powerful multimedia processing, robust content security system, and a full complement of peripherals. Its advanced decoder engines support video decoding of H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), VC-1 (as well as Windows Media® Video 9, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (part 2) with multiple streams, up to the equivalent of two high-definition video streams. High performance graphics acceleration, multi-standard audio decoding, advanced display processing capabilities, and HDMI/HDCP output round out its multimedia core. Powerful content security is ensured through a dedicated secure processor, flash memory, and a range of digital rights management (DRM) engines for high-speed payload decryption. The SMP8634’s 300-Mhz host CPU, 3.2 GB/second unified memory controller, Ethernet 10/100 controller, dual USB 2.0 controller, and IDE controller provide for a single-chip solution for most set-top boxes and consumer players.

IPTV Market in China

China may be in a position to overtake both Europe and the U.S. in consumer entertainment by adopting IPTV in the future. China’s telecoms companies and broadcasters are gearing up to tap into IPTV, a potentially lucrative business. China now has about 100 million cable TV subscribers and nearly 23 million broadband Internet users. Nationally, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (“SARFT”) says there were 2.19 million IPTV subscribers in 2004, up from approximately 10,000 in 2000. Du Baiochuan, a SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film and Television) official, is quoted as saying he expects IPTV subscribers to reach 20 million in 2008. Other forecasts vary. Analysis International, a leading technology advisor in the Asia-Pacific Region, projects that the number will reach 16.65 million by 2007 ("Number of China's IPTV Subscribers Expected to Reach 1.17mn", 2005). IDC forecasts the number of IPTV subscribers will exceed 8 million in 2008. Informa Telecoms and Media, a globally well-known market research company, predicts that the number will reach 4.9 million by 2010, where the U.S. will take second place with 3.9 million subscribers. On the downside, Norson Telecom Consulting predicts only 1.2 million subscribers by 2009, citing regulatory obstacles. IPTV services in China are expected to be a US$12.5 billion market by 2008.

Due to ambiguous government policy, both telecommunications operators and other non-TV media companies rushed into the IPTV market in 2004. China Netcom, the country’s fourth largest telecoms carrier, edged into the Internet protocol television sector by establishing three IPTV stations over the past half-year. The latest TV station of this kind is www.bjiptv.com.cn, launched by Beijing People’s Broadcasting Corporation (BPBC) on December 24, 2003. The BPBC’s TV Web site started trial operations on December 24th simultaneously in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province and Heilogonjiang Province. In addition, Netcom has joined hands with the International Data Group and China Central Television to enter the Internet TV business. Netcom poured RMB 500 million into a broadband Internet venture, Tiantian Online (http://www.116.com.cn). Netcom is the largest shareholder in the venture with a 40% stake. The company is also a strategic partner of www.chinasee.net, an Internet TV site opened by the dominant state TV agency CCTV this June.

Now chinasee.net operates in Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province, with 22,000 paid users registered. CCTV has said it expects to recruit 600,000 IPTV subscribers this year. China Telecom is said to have plans to launch large-scale promotions of IPTV in most cities in the country this year, following the launch of the Internet TV service in Shanghai last August, also in cooperation with a subsidiary of China’s Central Television (CCTV). Many entities other than telecommunications carriers have an interest in IPTV. There are limited channels for both television and radio, whereas the space for Internet television is endless. Unlike television stations, china does not need big television cameras: a family use digital camcorder will work. Production costs are vital for a country playing leapfrog with western technologies by going straight from radio to IPTV. It is cheaper to use China’s mushrooming number of Internet connections than it is to build cable TV networks.

IPTV Case Study: Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom is the largest telecommunication service provider in Chinese Taipei.
It provides a full portfolio of services including local, long distance phony, wireless, Internet access, broadband networking, satellite communication and multimedia broadband. Chunghwa Telecom had dominated the telecommunications services market for over 50 years until 2000 when the Chinese Taipei government decided to open up fixed network market. However, Chunghwa Telecom is still the leader in the broadband market. Chunghwa Telecom has 12 million local phone subscribers and more than 3 million ADSL subscribers which possess 81.74% of the ADSL market in Chinese Taipei. Most other ISPs even have to use Chunghwa Telecom’s last-mile wires in providing ADSL service.

Chunghwa Telecom was the first to get the IPTV license in 2003. Based on its broadband platform, Chunghwa Telecom has poured huge amount of money into video market. Chunghwa Telecom invested 190 million NT dollars into IPTV. Chunghwa Telecom got the operator’s license in 2003. In cooperation with Acer Computer Company and Alcatel, the company launched Multimedia on Demand (MOD) service which was very similar to regular TV service. Chunghwa Telecom signed a contract with Alcatel in June 2005viii. Alcatel will supply 870 thousand ADSL2 plus lines for the delivery of higher-bandwidth broadband services across Chinese Taipei. It helps Chunghwa Telecom in providing a flexible and reliable platform to carry MOD service.

MOD is based on MPEG-2 compression technology. The compressed signals will then be sent over ADSL lines. Since most television sets in Chinese Taipei still can only display analog signals, a set-top box must be installed to convert digital signals into traditional analog signals. Subscribers can then choose programs from traditional television sets. In terms of content, MOD focuses on the diversity of entertainment programming. MOD service includes both regular television channels and video-on-demand. In the beginning, Chunghwa Telecom carries five free-to-air television stations and video-on demand service. Five free-to-air television stations include TTV and CTV with 16 basic channels such as Hakka TV, CTS's educational channel, Da-Ai TV, BLTV, Australia's ABC, and news, sport, drama and shows made by CTS. The video-on-demand service contains education, real-time information, stock information, travel, shopping and movie stations.
Audiences can enjoy the benefit of multimedia interactivity. In order to attract consumers’ attention, Chunghwa Telecom offers a series of promotional packages. With sufficient financial resources, Chunghwa Telecom provides a competitive package includes a free set-top box, free installation, and free for the basic channels in the first six months. Chunghwa Telecom had signed up more than 30,000 IPTV subscribers in the first month and had more than 200,000 subscribers within its first six months of operation. With a series of promotion, Chunghwa Telecom reached the goal of the first step. In the future, the goal of Chunghwa Telecom is to reach 1.5 million IPTV subscribers over the next 5 years.