Wi-Fi-distributed IPTV gains converts

Ruckus Wireless is continuing to prove that unplugging IPTV may not be such a bad thing. The vendor of wireless local area network routers for home deployment will announce two new carrier relationships this week, with Belgacom of Belgium and Telefonica O2 in the Czech Republic. The carrier will reportedly make the Belagacom announcement at the Broadband World Forum event in Paris this week.

Those carriers are the latest service providers to adopt using Wi-Fi as the in-home wiring medium for distributing IPTV to multiple devices. Although international carriers and some rural independent telcos in the U.S. have aggressively invested in the solution, larger U.S. telcos primarily are using MOCA or HomePNA-standard wiring thus far in their IPTV efforts.

“Both of these carriers are moving pretty quickly to a self-install model for IPTV,” said David Callisch, marketing director for Ruckus Wireless. “Both now offer Ethernet as in-home wiring, but they will also offer our solution as a do-it-yourself option.” If customers can self-install wireless gear bought at retail outlets, then they wouldn't be charged the cost related to installation by truck roll.

Ruckus has a busy week planned. The company also will announce closing a $16 million financing round led by Motorola and including the T Venture Fund operated by Deutsche Telekom. In addition, Ruckus will announce a remote management solution for its MediaPlex NG wireless router that allows carriers to monitor in-home IPTV architectures for quality.

Telephony's Guide to IPTV is out, and you can read the content online on the IPTV One-Stop page on our Web site.
www.telephonyonline.com/iptv