HomePNA driving down install times

HOUSTON -- IPTV installation times are dropping, in some cases to an average of under three hours, largely because service providers are using HomePNA technology to avoid the need for rewiring, companies including AT&T, CenturyLink and Telus reported Thursday at the HomePNA Summit here.

AT&T has cut its U-verse installation times in half and is now averaging three to three-and-a-half hours per installation, Vernon Reed, principal member of technical staff told the HomePNA Summit here today. Telus has seen similar improvement in its installation times, said Ann Slevinsky, manager of Telus TV Development, and now reliably has technicians installing two customers a day. CenturyLink has seen even greater improvements, most recently to three hours per install and less, leading the company to "toy with three installs per tech per day," said Kevin Czaicki, area operations manager in Missouri.  

AT&T's Reed said those installations that take longer than 3.5 hours are often more complex or involve additional TVs or other services, Reed said. "These will involve negotiating with the customer and maybe running additional wire," he said. "This will take longer, but it's because the customer has asked and in many cases is paying for the additional services."

Bell Aliant, a Canadian service provider serving Eastern provinces which began offering IPTV in 2005, has seen a 40% improvement in installing times since the company stopped stringing Cat 5 Ethernet cabling – its initial approach – and started using HomePNA technology over existing coaxial cable, said John Pitt, senior architect for CPE and home networking. Install times now approach 2.5 hours for the standard two TVs plus high-speed Internet access, Pitt said.

AT&T has been able to trim installation times as it gained experience dealing with the tricky issues of inside wiring, Reed said, and particularly cable splitters and connectors, which introduce loss that disrupt IPTV signals. AT&T uses HomePNA over existing copper and coax wiring to speed installations, but then has to address the quality of that wiring, Reed said.

"Cable splitters are your enemy," he said.

All four service providers attributed the faster installation times to using HomePNA but also to PC-based or handheld tools from companies such as CopperGate, Sunrise Telecom and others that enable technicians to quickly determine whether the existing coaxial cable in a home can support the IP network required to deliver IPTV, and to greater experience and more detailed training of technicians.

"We have a much more experienced work force," Pitt said. "We also have simplified CPE."

Verizon, which uses the MoCA home networking standard, also has reported declining installation times, based on the experience it has gained in installing FiOS.