A focal point for telco video

Telcos and providers of broadband services over IP networks have had a steep learning curve when it comes to TV. As many now know, the process of implementing a telco video deployment involves changes to the network, to operations and business practices and, above all, the acquisition and deployment of new and unfamiliar technologies.

Although the greatest upfront costs involve new customer premises equipment (like set-top boxes and network termination devices), network elements (new access platforms) and the headend, arguably the most important decision--and the most important element of any triple-play deployment--is the selection of IPTV middleware. 

Middleware is effectively the command-and-control center of the interactive TV environment. The role of middleware is to define and manage the overall TV environment, manage subscribers and service bundles and to create and define its individual interactive television services and features. Although IPTV middleware solutions have historically been proprietary, there has been a movement toward standardization in recent years, driven largely by the CableLabs organization in the U.S., by the European Union (DVB-MHP) and by international technology standards organizations.

There are three broad categories of IPTV middleware platforms: integrated middleware-applications software systems, software systems that are bundled with hardware elements and customized middleware environments. Let's look at each in turn.

Integrated middleware-applications systems provide the service creation and applications framework for switched digital TV services and manage the interoperation of some or all of the system's elements, the packaging of services, their integration with external processes such as billing systems and element management systems, and integration with content processing resources in the headend.

These integrated systems also include pre-defined elements that make up the user experience and are deployed from centralized servers--for example, the pre-defined templates and graphic elements that make up the user interface. They also offer pre-defined applications, including digital TV, an interactive program guide, the ordering and viewing environment for video-on-demand and the walled-garden "Web on TV" service that can be customized to present anything from local weather reports to the lunch schedule at the local school. 

To render these elements through a set-top box onto a TV screen, these middleware systems include middleware clients that reside in the set-top box. The suppliers of these integrated middleware-applications systems also offer application development and porting environments to accommodate new set-top boxes. These suppliers include Myrio Corporation and Orca Interactive.

Another supplier of an integrated middleware system is Microsoft. The Microsoft IPTV platform is pre-integrated not only with applications, a client middleware platform and applications servers but also with its own server operating system and multimedia content delivery platform. Microsoft entered the IPTV middleware category during the fourth quarter of 2003. As I indicated in my January 2004 Analyst's Corner column, I consider the Microsoft IPTV offering to be a "disruptive" entry into the mix of telco video technology platforms, due to its broad scope.

The second middleware category is comprised of integrated middleware-applications systems that are bundled with hardware from the same supplier, allowing it to be optimized for more rapid deployment and simplified management. A whole range of suppliers fits into this category. As a result of its acquisition of two middleware companies last year, iMagicTV and Thirdspace, Alcatel now offers its Open Media Suite, which allows Alcatel to offer a fully integrated access network/middleware solution.

Several headend suppliers offer middleware products that have been tightly integrated with their hardware. The one best known for its middleware is Minerva Networks; however, Video Tele.com (a division of Tut Systems) and Tandberg Television offer middleware environments with their content processing systems as well. In addition, several set-top box suppliers, including Entone, i3 Micro and Kreatel, offer middleware and applications systems that work in concert with their respective IPTV set-top box and residential gateway offerings. Finally, Kasenna, the maker of streaming video servers, announced its own service creation and management environment just this past month.

The third category is the customized middleware environment. These are developed for (or by) specific service providers, and leverage mixes of off-the-shelf and proprietary applications, middleware and management platforms for individual elements of the end-to-end solution. FastWeb (a broadband service provider in Italy) and Kingston Communications (a TV-over-DSL service provider in the U.K.) have both taken this approach.

Some may say that a fourth category is emerging: the systems integrator with captive technology. At the end of March, Broadstream Communications, a start-up telco video systems integrator that allows a telco to outsource the acquisition and operation of the headend, acquired one of the original middleware companies, StellarTV. It remains to be seen what Broadstream will do with this acquisition, but one inference is that in StellarTV, the company now has a toolset that allows it to deliver an even more tightly integrated video solution.

Longtime readers may remember that I've written about middleware before. But if you are a service provider that followed the technology trends a few years ago, you can quickly see that there have been a lot of changes in the middleware category. Some suppliers have merged with others; some new ones have emerged. Some have disappeared altogether. The products have matured; many are now third- and fourth-generation. This evolution somewhat parallels what has happened in the access network world with respect to telco video. Net-net--and contrary to what some observers may say--middleware is a component of the telco video solution that's ignored at the service provider's peril.

Steve Hawley is principal consulting analyst of Advanced Media Strategies. He may be reached via his Web site: www.tvstrategies.com.