IPTV

Is Three Screen Convergence a Pipe Dream?

Bernie — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:15:58 -0500

The TelcoTV Conference, which concluded last week, had its fair share of three screen convergence discussion. The idea of delivering a converged and integrated video/entertainment experience to the TV, PC, and mobile device is all the rage right now. But I walked away thinking, that at least in the U.S., three screen convergence still remains a dream, except to AT&T and Verizon. Those two seem to be the only companies in the U.S. with a legitimate shot for achieving its promise. They intend on leveraging it as a differentiation strategy over cable and DBS competitors. But where does that leave everyone else? Are all other carriers left on the three screen sideline, while AT&T and Verizon battle soon to be wireless enabled Cox, Comcast, and other cable companies? Forget the digital divide, are we now confronted with the “convergence divide?” Admittedly, TelcoTV’s own panel, “The Realities of Convergence for Small Carriers” created more questions than answers. But that’s not from lack of effort. The panel's outcome is illustrative of the marketplace reality – no clear convergence answers except for all but the largest of carriers. The remaining majority of telcoTV carriers lack the necessary ingredients – scale, a complementary wireless network, and deep enough pockets to pay for the complicated integration. Maybe the bigger question is, does anyone really care? Is this whole concept of content anywhere and on any device important to anyone but the marketers and analysts who promote it?

Let’s assume for a second, that it does “have some legs.” Seems to me, this is ripe territory for partnership. Why can’t Sprint and/or T-Mobile partner with the multitude of wireline IPTV carriers who are not AT&T or Verizon, and jointly develop and market a three screen converged product portfolio? Wouldn’t it make sense for all involved (assuming Sprint is interested, which they may not be, given their existing efforts with the cable industry)? The combined effort would allow Sprint/T-Mobile to more effectively compete with AT&T and Verizon’s three screen push. The same could be said for the existing smaller IPTV providers who will want to differentiate themselves from their video competitors (or maybe keep up with them). There is certainly enough overlap between Sprint/T-Mobile footprints and the IPTV operators who lack a wireless network. Unfortunately, partnering for wireless service has had mixed success. There are a few success stories out there, but most wireline carriers who are anxious to partner with wireless carriers find themselves looking for an elusive dancing partner. The MVNO model hasn’t quite panned out. Perhaps adding video to the mix will make up for the apparent lack of interest in developing wide scale win-win mobile wireless partnerships.

I realize I’m over simplifying the partnership process. The reality is it’s quite complicated and often messy. Adding video to the mix may not even be viable, given the system integration challenges among hundreds of different IPTV provider networks. The business model hasn’t historically been pretty either. There’s a reason why we haven’t seen a great model emerge, where wireline carriers who lack spectrum and a wireless network, partner with an existing wireless carrier to offer wireless services. And do so in a fashion where they can both make a little money at it, while maintaining respective ownership and control of the customer experience (although there are some promising partnerships on the horizon, including Crossroads Wireless). It’s one of those things that make perfect logical sense on paper, but reality proves otherwise. It's not an encouraging picture for three screen convergence evangelists.

Telcos Are Reinventing TV

Bernie — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:54:02 -0500

The TelcoTV Conference kicked off this morning with keynote addresses from both AT&T and Verizon. Dan York, Executive Vice President of Content for AT&T and John Harrobin, Senior Vice President for Marketing and Digital Media for Verizon both offered glimpses into their respective company’s three screen entertainment strategy. A recurring theme throughout both presentations was that telcos are reinventing the television experience, and doing so more effectively than their cable competitors. “Telcos are at the center of reinventing TV,” said Harrobin. “Telcos are best positioned to mine content assets and maximize value,” through the integration of mobile, broadband and TV, and are executing that vision better than cable, said Harrobin.

“We’re redefining ourselves as a communications and entertainment company,” said York. “But entertainment is more than just video,” he said. York painted a picture where entertainment involves integrating all services and platforms with an entertainment portfolio. “Putting entertainment in the bundle is not enough,” said York. “This goes beyond putting three services on one bill.” The emphasis of telcos beating cable at their own game couldn’t have been louder. I counted five instances of “more than cable” references in York’s 30 minute speech alone. Harrobin alluded to the “death of linear television” and suggested that telcos are better positioned to leverage the future of television which will be more focused on VOD and web integrated video experiences. “The magic happens when we connect the three platforms of mobile, broadband and TV,” he said.

Despite the bravado and hype of York and Harrobin’s comments, there is an argument to be made for their hypothesis. TelcoTV operators are being more innovative with video and are executing a better three screen strategy than their cable and DBS competitors. But realistically, what choice do they have? They have to be more innovative and offer a more compelling mix of features to compete with well entrenched cable and DBS competitors. The same could be said for cable’s assault on telco’s core service – voice. Cable is offering more innovative voice offerings than their entrenched telco competitors. It’s a factor of the marketplace. Competition is always a catalyst for innovation.

CloverLeaf and Accedo Partner for IPTV Games

Bernie — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:37:34 -0500

Brooklyn, NY, November 10, 2008 – CloverLeaf Digital LLC, a leading US provider of interactive television applications and services, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Accedo Broadband AB, the Sweden-based IPTV games specialist, to distribute Accedo’s Funspot games to North American independent telephone companies. Read More ...

AT&T U-verse TV Tops 100,000 Subscribers in Houston

Bernie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:06:15 -0400

Houston, Texas, October 20, 2008 - Thousands of Houston-area residents have cut their ties with cable and extended a warm welcome to the newest video choice in town. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced that AT&T U-verseSM TV has reached a milestone of more than 100,000 customers in the Greater Houston area.

AT&T U-verse services were first introduced in the Houston area nearly two years ago in November 2006. AT&T is continually expanding availability to more Houston-area residents, and U-verse TV is offered today throughout the Houston region, including parts of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris and Montgomery counties. Read More ...

Canby Telcom Launches HD Offering Powered by IP-PRIME HD-4 Service in Central Oregon

Bernie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

September 30, 2008, Princeton, NJ & Canby, OR – SES AMERICOM and Canby Telcom, a member of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), announced today that Canby’s IPTV customers can now access 36 channels of High Definition (HD) programming, including more than two dozen channels delivered to Canby via IP-PRIME, from marquee programmers such as Discovery, Disney, Showtime, Fox News, ESPN, A&E and the Food Network, plus a handful of local broadcast services. Read More ...

AT&T Toys With Convergence

Bernie — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:30:20 -0400

AT&T offered a preview earlier this week of their vision for convergence. They demoed technology that’s not publicly available yet, including linking the iPhone to U-verse services. For example, the iPhone can turn into a remote control for U-verse video services. Other applications will include the ability to download programming from a U-Verse DVR to an iPhone for mobile playback. AT&T CTO John Donovan tells Dow Jones, "You're going to see dramatic changes in the how we look and feel to our customers."

AT&T has taken its lumps lately, with slowing broadband growth and questioning of its FTTN strategy with U-Verse. Its trump card is wireless, and the iPhone is leading the way. AT&T knows it’s going to have to start integrating wireless into its wireline, broadband, and video strategies to take some of the shine off of its cable competitors. Wireless is their answer. The sooner they can integrate wireless and iPhone applications into their broadband and U-verse experience, the better off they’ll be. They need some of that “cool” factor in place for their entire product portfolio to hedge against any possible success from cable’s forthcoming attempt to integrate WiMAX into their triple play portfolio.

Microsoft Encourages Migration to Mediaroom

Bernie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:38:40 -0400

Microsoft introduced a new program to “help” video service providers who currently use another middleware platform to migrate to their Mediaroom middleware platform. In a company statement, Microsoft explains that “…the program provides guidelines and solutions for service providers considering upgrading their IPTV platform. The Microsoft Mediaroom Migration Program delivers a structured assessment process and analytical tools for migration, including business and technical workshops to review set-top-box portability, network compatibility and audio-visual head-end interoperability.” How nice of them. Middleware providers have become quite the aggressive bunch. The competitive landscape seems to grow by the month, with Ericsson as the latest entrant into the somewhat crowded middleware space.

At the End of the Day, Content Still Matters Most

Bernie — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:39:25 -0400

It’s cliché, but oh so true – content is king. Look at most industry conference agendas these days, whether they be broadband or wireless focused, and content is the center of attention. The tag line for this year’s IBC Conference, a leading global telecom industry event taking place next week in Amsterdam, is “the world of content creation management delivery.” Most of the CTIA I.T. and Entertainment conference centers on the delivery of content wirelessly. Like it or hate it, the future of our business involves figuring out how to profitably deliver content to customers. Voice service won’t disappear, but will morph into a value added application among a variety of more robust services. Carriers are in the beginning stages of making the transition to purveyors of content. There’s a lot to learn. With that in mind, we invite you to join us for an upcoming free webcast, IPTV Content: Putting the Pieces in Place, scheduled for Thursday September 11, 2008 at 2:00p ET/1:00p CT. It will be well worth your time.

It's Getting Crowded in Here With Middleware Options

Bernie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:03:37 -0400

According to several reports, Ericsson, through its TandbergTV subsidiary, will enter the IPTV middleware business at the upcoming IBC Conference. Ericsson will join Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent, Thomson, and Nokia Siemens, among others, all of whom are chasing the global tier one and two carrier market for IPTV middleware. Seems a little crowded to me. Is there really enough business to go around for all these heavyweights? Alan Delaney, business development director for Ericsson subsidiary Tandberg TV, tells Light Reading, “We've been working on this in a number of different geographies and using expertise from a number of different parts of the company. It's part of the drive to enable an end-to-end service across multiple platforms. It's IMS enabled, and is aimed at operators that need scalability and an open standards-based platform -- it's based on specifications from the Open IPTV Forum."

NCTC Eyeing Telcos?

Bernie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:07:16 -0400

I got word last week that the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) may be relaxing some of its membership rules to allow IPTV providers to join. NCTC is one of the original aggregators of video content. Small cable companies formed NCTC to pool subscriber counts and get access to programming at rates that they could not get on their own. NCTC’s legacy has historically been tied to small cable companies. In the past ten years, small telephone companies wanted in on the video action as well and began joining NCTC to get access to cheaper programming. But those same telcos also competed with NCTC’s historical membership. The scuttlebutt is that the competitive threat posed by telcos caused NCTC to institute a new member moratorium in 2005. That moratorium created an opening for more telco focused content aggregators including NRTC and Telechannel.

Word now is NCTC is revisiting the moratorium. Telephony Online asked my opinion of this development, for which I commented that I wouldn’t be surprised if they allowed IPTV providers into the membership. NCTC, like any organization, needs sustainable growth, and telcos represent that growth. This issue is far from resolved and NCTC is being very vague about exactly what their new membership rules will be. I suspect that many NCTC members wouldn’t be keen on relaxing the moratorium, which creates somewhat of a conundrum for the organization itself. Keep existing members happy with the status quo, or think long term and open your doors to a growing market segment. Makes for some interesting board meetings I’m sure.

There are two events we’re involved with that are squarely focused on these and other telcoTV and IPTV issues. First is the TelcoTV Conference and Expo, coming up in November in Anaheim. TelcoTV is the premier event for the discussion of issues like this, and offers the largest solely focused exhibition of telcoTV solution providers of any conference in North America. Second, is a webcast we’re hosting on Thursday Sept. 11th, IPTV Content: Putting the Pieces in Place, sponsored by Avail Media. We’ll be discussing the importance of IPTV content and clarifying the different content rights issues. We’ll also have representatives from ESPN and Wealth TV to share their views on these important issues. I hope you can join us for both.