By Simon Trudelle, Senior Director Product Marketing
The pay-TV industry has talked about a progressive move to IP-driven services for years.
But recent research conducted by the Pay-TV Innovation Forum has started to give us more visibility on the rate of adoption of IP technologies by regions of the world.
For example, it’s clear that the US cable industry, despite a highly fragmented footprint resulting from successive M&A operations, is leading the way, along with large telcos now investing into FTTH infrastructure. In the UK meanwhile, the government announced a business rates relief to encourage investment in FTTH last year.
Broadband is clearly a pre-requisite and motivation for delivering more content over IP. And more broadly, cable MSOs are increasingly gearing up to be the broadband operator of choice, with it looking like they have all the assets to position themselves very favourably in the arms race for ever higher broadband speeds.
And with telcos generally having had their TV service delivered over IP, they will naturally keep evolving the content line-up on their IP networks.
In other regions, the adoption of multiscreen TVE, catch-up TV, cloud DVR or SVOD services is also coupled with investments to leverage IP technologies, as more CPE functions move to the cloud.
The challenge several large cable and telco operators face is how they go about offering new services while limiting the capex investment on network and CPE gear.
Overall, transitioning to all-IP is looking especially attractive for cable operators – for them it’s technically possible with Docsis 3.x to deliver 1Gbps IP networks over fiber/coax systems. Telcos going for ever faster fiber also have the same opportunity.
Satcos are also launching their own OTT services to leverage existing cable or telco infrastructure to increase their reach and compete more effectively in urban areas.
These trends indicate a potentially tricky task ahead for operators. But we are seeing more and more operators beginning to make the journey.
For example, one of NAGRA’s cable customers, Euskaltel in Northern Spain, has found ways to leverage its DOCSIS 3.x and QAM investments to evolve its platform and offer on-demand TV services while progressively upgrading its CPE equipment, recently launching a secure hybrid AndroidTV set-top box.
These recent trends raise an important point to remember for operators – before beginning their migration to IP-based services, it’s crucial they seek the right expertise to help them.
Whether operators are entering the market from scratch, or simply adapting to the evolving marketplace, IP delivery isn’t a journey that can be made alone!
Contact us to know more about the services we can offer to help you smartly transition from broadcast to IP!