IPTV not exactly a household name

IPTV may be an up and coming way of delivering video, but
ask the mainstream consumer to explain it and you’re likely
to get a deer-in-headlights stare.

That’s the conclusion of Accenture’s recent IPTV consumer
report that found “widespread misunderstanding, or no understanding,
of what IPTV is.”

The study was compiled from 6,030 consumer responses in six
countries, including the U.S., and found that compelling TV
is the core foundation of any IPTV proposition and that consumers
“overwhelmingly” prefer to watch TV on a TV set.

“It’s the ‘TV’ and not the ‘IP’ that interests consumers.
They want great content and new services. Audiences don’t
care about the underlying technology,” the report concludes.

Nearly half of the respondents (46 percent) said they didn’t
know what IPTV is. Even those consumers who had heard about
IPTV disagreed over how to define it.

And there were some challenging barriers to IPTV adoption.
“Cost is by far the most significant impediment. Seventy-three
percent of respondents are not very willing or not at all
willing to pay extra for the ability to search for entertainment
content whenever they want it.”

There was a ray of hope in terms of consumer understanding
of IPTV, however. “The level of confusion declines significantly
in geographies where IPTV services are gaining acceptance.
And there is widespread interest in IPTV-type services,” the
report reveals.

Translation: IPTV, like any new technology, has an awareness
issue. And content remains King.

—Craig
Kuhl, IP Capsule Editor, and CED Magazine
Contributing Editor

Cisco, Deutsche Telecom networking
T-Home service

Deutsche Telecom will drive its triple play network, “T-Home,”
with Cisco
Systems‘ IP architecture and IP set-top boxes and
support the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform, the
companies announced.

The service will be available to Deutsche Telecom customers
in Germany, France and Spain in the second half of 2006 and
will be based on Cisco’s IP NGN (Next Generation Network)
architecture. It will also incorporate Cisco’s 1200 Series
routers at the provider edge, the 10008 Series routers as
Broadband Remote Access Server platforms and Cisco’s Catalyst
6509 Series switches, the company added.

What’s the big deal? It represents Microsoft’s largest IPTV
agreement in Europe to date, and for Cisco and Deutsche Telecom,
a deeper and wider working relationship as the European telecom
drives IPTV deeper into the region.

Optibase getting smart with
video

Optibase
Ltd., a provider of digital video solutions, will
supply its IPTV streaming platforms to SmartVideo
to enable full motion TV to Verizon and Cingular mobile subscribers
in the U.S.

SmartVideo manages and delivers content to mobile and cellular
devices and will use the Optibase MGW 5100 TV streaming platform
to encode and transmit live video received from satellite
provider Crawford Communications over a dedicated network
to SmartVideo’s facilities.

Content, which will be delivered over cell phones and smart
handheld devices, will include news, weather, sports and children’s
programming.

Why the agreement? Both Optibase and SmartVideo are bullish
on the cellular streaming market and content delivery over
mobile devices.

Widevine widens its digital
forensics range

Widevine
Technologies, Inc. will integrate its Widevine Mensor
digital forensics solution into a range of new and legacy
consumer electronics devices, it reported.

A new MPAA study reports that U.S. movie studios are losing $6.1 billion annually in global revenue to piracy. Widevine Mensor enables studios, broadcasters and video operators to expand theft deterrence and traceability of premium content.

Mensor enables studios, broadcasters and video operators
to expand theft deterrence and traceability of premium content.
The first set-tops (all of them IP-based) to embed Mensor
include Scientific-Atlanta’s IPN430MC IP model, Motorola Inc.’s
Kreatel 1710, and Amino Communications’ AmiNet 110 and AmiNet
124. Microsoft Corp. is also incorporating Mensor in Windows
PCs.

What’s this all about? Protecting content with advanced watermarking
and fingerprinting capabilities, especially in the growing
IPTV space.

And the research says…..

Skip those commercials?

A pressing issue among content providers is the ability of
consumers to skip commercials when using Digital Video Recorders
(DVRs). And the research isn’t helping the matter. According
to JupiterResearch, 53 percent of online DVR subscribers used
their DVRs to skip commercials. If the DVR households skip
commercials 100 percent of the time, the cable and broadcast
TV advertising revenue at risk would be $8 billion of the
$74 billion advertising market.

Ouch!

And what’s Jupiter’s advice? “Television networks and advertisers
should rethink programming and advertising strategies to cope
with how DVRs are being used.”

New Global Telecom gets smart

New Global Telecom
has launched SMART (Strategic Market, Acquisition, & Retention
Techniques), a VoIP informational series designed to help
service providers in the small to mid-size business (SMB)
markets.

The SMART series includes three volumes that provide practical,
actional information organized in three topic areas—market
assessment, acquisition of SMB end-users and customer retention,
the company said.

Verso gets interoperable, joins
IP Alliance

Verso Technologies,
Inc. has successfully completed interoperability tests
with iDirect
and has joined the iDirect IP Alliance, the company announced.

IDirect asked Verso to join its IP Alliance program after
the company passed its interoperability tests, which enables
Verso to optimize bandwidth utilization and provide a shared
IP satellite network.

VX Series gets launched to
deliver VoIP service

Network Equipment
Technologies, Inc. (NET) has rolled out its next-generation
technology designed to deliver integrated, secure lower cost
VoIP and mobility to the enterprise, the company said.

NET’s VX series is aimed at enterprises and includes a VoIP
solution with “any-to-any” gateway functionality and interoperability
with existing telecommunications and data network infrastructure.
The VX Series enables VoIP and enterprise mobility applications
with session border control and call system integration that
extends enterprise PBX functionality to mobile handsets, added
NET.

When implemented as a remote office voice switch, the VX
Series extends advanced calling features from centralized
call systems to remote locations, reducing the cost, complexity
and manageability of enterprise voice networks, the company
said.

Why the launch? The enterprise market is fast becoming a
lucrative one for VoIP and other IP type services.

AT&T thinks rural with WildBlue
deal

AT&T will
begin selling WildBlue Communications’ broadband Internet
service later this month under the brand name “AT&T High
Speed Internet Access, powered by WildBlue,” the companies
announced.

The agreement calls for WildBlue, a Denver-based provider
of broadband access to consumers and small offices in rural
areas and small cities, to provide AT&T with equipment
management, installation and distribution services for satellite
service customers.

So why the deal? WildBlue offers AT&T lower overhead
access to the rural markets and smaller cities not served,
or underserved, by DSL, cable and other landline-based high-speed
services.

AOL, Clearwire hook up on wireless

AOL
and Clearwire
Corp. have announced a wireless broadband marketing
partnership. The resulting service will be branded as “AOL
High Speed-Powered by Clearwire.”

Consumers will be able to access AOL service with high-speed
wireless broadband access starting at $25.95 a month and will
be initially available in Daytona Beach and Jacksonville,
Fla,. and Stockton and Modesto, Calif.

Why the relationship? Another move by AOL to move its members
to broadband.

Verizon picks up speed

Verizon‘s
fiber-fed FiOS Internet Service will upgrade its high-speed
Internet connections in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
to speeds of up to 10 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream
and 20/5 Mbps for small businesses and consumers, respectively,
the company said.

FiOS also offers consumers faster speeds of 30 and 5 Mbps.

Current accelerates BPL deployment

Current
Communications Group LLC will infuse $130 million
in new equity investments to accelerate its BPL-enabled “Smart
Grid” electric utility networks and alternative broadband
communications services, the company announced.

The investments come from a variety of strategic equity investors—including
General Electric and EarthLink—and will allow Current
to further its BPL technology in creating a multipurpose high-speed
data network by placing advanced digital equipment on electric
distribution networks, and enable an electric utility to monitor
and control, in real time, the components in the electric
distribution network, the company noted.

Current is deploying the first BPL-enabled Smart Grid with
TXU Electric Delivery in Texas. What’s the deal here? Current
is using BPL technology, which allows consumers to manage
their own electricity usage while allowing the electric utility
to monitor and control a network. BPL is growing in popularity
as an alternative means of powering consumers’ use of video,
voice and data services.