Middleware snags stalling HD, DVR rollouts

HD, DVR services face interopability issues, customers complain

Shortcomings in middleware are causing headaches among some rural telcos, interfering with their plans to offer high-definition (HD) video and digital video recorder (DVR) services.

Some carriers relying on middleware from Myrio, a unit of Nokia Siemens Networks, have become so frustrated that they are considering switching providers. Myrio customer diversiCom, an ILEC and CLEC operating in Minnesota, said it has had to halt its IPTV marketing because it does not yet have an upgrade of Myrio’s middleware that will support HD and DVR capabilities. The rural telco serves more than 3,000 subscribers—offering IPTV to its ILEC customers and video over hybrid fiber-coax to its CLEC cable base. diversiCom is part of a consortium of telcos that collectively share a headend. According to chief operating officer Dean Mohs, some other member telcos are in the same boat.

“Initially, we knew we were leading edge when we began this in early 2005,” Mohs said. “We knew everything wasn’t there, that bandwidth might be a problem and that HD wasn’t there yet, but we feel this should have been resolved by now. The frustrating part is how long it’s taking to get HD. We’re sitting here, and we can’t offer that service. This past Christmas saw the biggest influx of HD TVs ever, but we can’t offer a service to support them. We’ve had to sit back with a low profile. We haven’t been able to do any big marketing campaigns to sign up customers because we can’t provide the service.”

Mohs said Myrio hasn’t told him that he can’t get HD and DVR, but adding those middleware features would require significant network changes. Those changes likely would include replacing every set-top box to an interoperable version with HD and DVR and other component upgrades or replacements, he said. “That means capital, so we need to evaluate if that’s the way for us to go.”

Independent telcos’ problems with Myrio are being exacerbated by industry rumors that the company—acquired by European joint venture NSN in 2005—is more focused on overseas markets than on North America.

Phil Erli, executive vice president of Georgia-based ILEC Ringgold Telephone Company, which uses middleware from Myrio competitor Minerva Networks, said he has been hearing from many frustrated Myrio customers. “[Myrio has] done no development, and virtually everyone I know who is using them is actively looking for a replacement,” Erli wrote in an email. But he also acknowledged having struggled with how to implement HD upgrades from Minerva.

NSN denied any assertion that it is losing interest in the US middlware market, saying in an email response that Myrio provides support for HD and DVR services globally today, including in North America, where a number of their customers deploy HD and DVR service.

“Nokia Siemens Networks is fully committed to sales, support and product development of its IPTV business in North America,” NSN said. “We have an extensive list of IPTV customers in North America, a number of whom have HD and DVR services deployed today. At a global level, Nokia Siemens Networks is refining our IPTV strategy and executing with a global platform available to customers in the US and Canada, enabling us to leverage our global scope and scale to benefit our customers.”

Matt Cuson, vice president of marketing for Minerva, said he undertands the small telcos’ frustrations. Many of them were IPTV’s earliest adopters, which means that the equipment they chose to implement has become outdated, he explained.

“The world of IPTV is horrifically complicated because it is so new and things change so fast,” Cuson said. “It’s the operators who end up paying the price.”