TV over IP comes of age

Oct 20, 2004 12:00 PM, By David Howard

What has held service providers back from deploying IP-based video services to consumers? In a word, "channelthink"--the perceived need to imitate the conventional terrestrial HFC or direct broadcast satellite (DBS) model by distributing real-time network feeds. Channelthink presupposes that the daily programming schedule runs in a linear continuum from dawn to the wee hours, and that providers need tens or even hundreds of megabits-per-second of downstream bandwidth to deliver legacy television programs and high-definition, high-bandwidth content. In fact, downstream DSL bandwidth of 24 Mb/s can easily support two high-definition TV (HDTV) streams (each about 8 Mb/s) plus concurrent voice over IP (VoIP) and Internet access.

However, much television content is low definition, and service providers can differentiate themselves by sourcing content directly from the production studios and using it to offer alternate, quicker-to-market, billing-based service models. Providers that wean themselves from channelthink can quickly implement revenue-generating services that break the continuum while maximizing the amount of programming over available bandwidth.

Breaking the continuum

Most television shows are not broadcast live; they are pre-recorded and played back in real time somewhere along the daily continuum. The bulk of live TV actually has much in common with video-on-demand (VOD), which is normally thought of only for feature films.

VOD is really a TV-over-IP (TVoIP) primitive--a base function that service providers can leverage for higher-level applications--and virtually any type of programming can be VOD. Freed from the perception that video services equate solely to live network feeds and television channels, service providers can open the doors to new concepts of television service and new applications.

Until recently, TVoIP on a broad scale was held back by technology. Historically, TVoIP systems were designed for enterprises and were incapable of scaling to support millions of mass-market subscribers. Video-based applications--and the technology required to store, quickly access and distribute vast amounts of content--were also lacking until recently.

Today, TVoIP technology allows for something far richer than just channels; instead, service providers can store pre-recorded content purchased from studios and use their existing bandwidth to create a variety of new revenue-generating bandwidth and pricing bundles that satisfy a wide variety of viewing needs. As TVoIP technology becomes more widespread, more types of providers will emerge offering new types of content. 

Today's TVoIP models employ four main components--an encoder, a server farm, a set-top box and middleware--that all exist today.

• The encoder works as a media gateway, preparing video content for distribution throughout the IP network. It encodes analog signals into digital format (e.g., MPEG, Windows Media) and demodulates, demultiplexes and transcodes digital formats such as Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB).

• The server farm hosts pre-recorded television content and feature films. A network personal video recorder (PVR) function lets viewers rewind, fast-forward and replay television programming stored on the server farm. 

• The subscriber's set-top box receives the media stream, typically via a customer premise equipment (CPE) device such as an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) modem, and decodes it for display on a television set. The box's user interface lets customers interact with video servers.

• Middleware software integrates the elements of TVoIP into a complete system. It handles media asset management, channel management and scheduling, billing, security and conditional access, system management and other management functions.

Other factors also influence TVoIP

TVoIP services are enabled by many other factors as well, including the maturation of IP quality-of-service (QOS) mechanisms, and video compression algorithms. Plus, providers will be able to push multimedia content to an ever-wider variety of electronic communications devices, including cell phones with improved video capability, PDAs, portable stereos, disk players and more.

Service providers can of course use TVoIP technology to offer traditional national, local and premium broadcast channels, as well as narrowcast services that deliver programming to specific markets, such as public education and government. Service providers might offer these as basic services and then add more services on top of them.  But it is applications made possible by TVoIP that will give service providers a competitive edge over cable and satellite operators.

While TVoIP technology holds great promise for entirely new applications, service providers can use it to generate revenue now by taking advantage of existing applications--as well as of the telephone keypad and the television remote control--to create a myriad of new service models.

The 'Spend Once, Spend Twice' Model: Anyone who has purchased a compact disc to replace a cassette is familiar with the "spend once, spend twice" model, which adapts extremely well to video content. The viewer can use the TV remote control to scroll the service provider's central library of video choices and select, say, a feature film. At the end of the film, a message appears on the screen offering the viewer a chance to purchase a copy of the movie for download to the set-top box for repeat viewing. The viewer may also have the option to purchase a copy of the film for download to the set-top box of a relative or friend. 

Viewers benefit by breaking free of the daily programming continuum. They do not have to pick up and return cassettes or DVDs to the video store, or mail DVDs back to the rental company, because content is available at any time for viewing or forwarding to others. Service providers benefit by realizing revenues from the 'spend once, spend twice' model that they would not otherwise be able to capture. 

The Archived Broadcast Model: Another TVoIP service model is derived from in-home PVRs that pause, re-wind, and fast-forward through real-time television programs and record them for later playback. The "archived broadcast" model goes a step beyond time-shifted TV. Subscribers can pay a fee to select TV content from the server on their own schedule.

For example, subscribers could view a series such as "M*A*S*H" or "The Sopranos" from beginning to end, order an entire season for later playback, or just view one or two episodes they missed during the regular season. And service providers have another opportunity to re-sell product already in hand for an incremental fee.

The Remote Preview Model: The ability to deliver video to the mobile phone handset can be the basis for a remote preview model that uses the handset as a teaser for other network services. This model converges the familiar functions of the TV remote with the handset to create a truly remote, take-anywhere unit that controls the home television.

A traveler could set up an alert, perhaps through a Web page interface, for her service provider to notify her mobile phone when a particular movie becomes available. While on the road, she receives the alert and uses her handset to see a preview and request a download to her set-top box.

Video previews would also be of interest to parents. A couple enjoying a night out while they leave their children with a babysitter could pull up a movie preview on their mobile remote before giving the babysitter consent to play the movie for their children.

Remote preview gives subscribers timely notification of and control over content delivery, no matter where the content is located. Because it creates greater opportunity for customer touch points and therefore new purchase opportunities, the service also helps increase revenue. Providers can even bill subscribers for airtime used while previewing video programming.

Ears wide open

What TVoIP technology can do for video it can also do for audio. The listener can use the remote to scroll through audio programming listed on the TV screen. Services might include radio and music broadcasts, a music-on-demand (MOD) service analogous to VOD, or subscription services that download music collections to the set-top box.

Consumers can even use their home TV appliances to enhance wireline and wireless telephony. Not only can the TV act as an interface for familiar features such as caller ID, call forwarding, voice and video conferencing, and messaging services, it can also support a new generation of VoIP-based video telephony services.  Just imagine the impact of a face-to-face video call when the video is a 24-inch TV screen rather than a 2-inch cell phone screen.

The mechanisms for delivering TVoIP are ready for prime time.  As new service models are developed, the traditional concept of television channels and the daily programming continuum are becoming outdated.  The closing credits are rolling on channelthink.

Some of the earliest new service models are the simplest, where the magic is not so much in the technology or available bandwidth, but in the service and billing model.  In the past, Hollywood combined low-tech special effects with creative camera work to dazzle audiences.  Today, service providers are combining fundamental technology components with ingenious service models to dazzle subscribers with new viewing-and listening-options.

David Howard is Manager of Field Product Marketing for UTStarcom.

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