IPTV in India
GigaOM » India’s IPTV Unreality
Shailaja Neelakantan @ GigaOM writes about IPTV in India.
- BSNL and MTNL have adopted a more open model where they partner with content providers who share their revenue with the service providers. BSNL & MTNL's problem is now how to assure quality of service for the IPTV link.
- Airtel is in the process of working out the kinks in their own IPTV service and will roll it out themselves.
- Meanwhile Reliance is adopting the safer DTH route until their Microsoft IPTV service stabilizes (that the service has problems is obvious from the problems AT&T's U-verse is facing in its limited rollout in the US).
- Tata has gone through this entire exercise, seen that IPTV isn't mature enough to invest heavily in and is focusing on DTH via Tata Sky.
So, as the author of the original post on GigaOM said, IPTV is an unreality in India - lets see how it plays out!
Update: I forgot to link this post to another blog post I saw on Broadband and Convergence India: Dish TV or Triple Play?. My comments in this post should answer some of the queries raised in that article!
Hilarious info on EuroTelcoblog
James Enck of EuroTelcoblog has touched on this hilarious tidbit: The floorspace occupied by VoIP, IPTV and telco triple play industry events exceeded the total surface area of Canada for the first time in history, and the delegates to these shows, marched side-by-side into the sea, would form a neverending columnThe hype and craze for IPTV and triple play seems to have reached a crescendo this year. I remember the days at work a year and a half back when I had to explain the concept to customers. Now they are clamoring for it!SBC + AT&T
Following up on my earlier post on the subject (first time I’ve posted to a weblog from work!), here are some articles that discuss the acquisition of AT&T by SBC.
BBC News: SBC agrees to buy AT&T for $16bn
I’d especially like to highlight this segment of their article:
Faced with fierce competition, revenues at AT&T have fallen over recent years and the slide is forecast to continue.
…
It does, however, have a strong business client list that contains "virtually every member of the Fortune 1000" list of the biggest businesses, AT&T said.
As expected, Om Malik breaks the news ahead of the curve (10 AM Indian time according to NewsGator, a good 3–4 hours before I noticed the alert):
AT&T, SBC about to shake hands (@ 6.13 AM Indian Standard Time)
AT&T SBC deal is done (@ 10 AM Indian Standard Time)
and Ma Bell, SBC deal may hit WiMAX (@ 9.08 PM Indian Standard Time)
Analysis from Om indicates that WiMAX might be the first to suffer, and possibly be dead-on-arrival, apart from being the most hyped technology since Bluetooth (another technology generally considered DOA).
Another article that seems to capture it all, is Light Reading’s: SBC/AT&T: Possible Winners & Losers
The next ripe target for acquisition in the telecom sector is MCI (formerly WorldCom)…
SBC & AT&T to merge
SBC and AT&T have announced their merger today.
SBC To Acquire AT&T; Creates Premier, Global Provider for New Era of Communications (Press Release)
Transaction is valued at $16 Billion. This puts together a strong combination of SBC's wireline business with AT&T's strengths in VoIP and business services.
More on GigaBeam
Stealth Communications, an NYC internet gateway and VoIP service provider, will use GigaBeam’s wireless GigE technology.
Light Reading coverage on this topic: GigaBeam, Stealth Expand VOIP Services
Om Malik writes about it: Stealth, GigaBeam team on VoIP
It appears the primary reason for choosing GigaBeam is the advantage of bypassing local infrastructure and its significantly lower levels of network access latency (expected to reduce by as much as 30% with this network).
I last mentioned GigaBeam here: GigE Network in the air over Manhattan
Followup to last week's Covad-VoIP-PSTN discussions
Here's some relevant information on this same topic: VoIP is NOT VoIP is NOT VoIP from the Broadband Blog by Aswath Rao.
Covad to trial converged network
It appears Covad will be running trial converged DSL+VoIP networks in Atlanta, Denver and san Jose using equipment from Nokia and Zhone. [Press Release] In such a network, customers would have absolutely no idea they are actually using a VoIP phone, as all the standard functionality of POTS is maintained. At the point where the customer's phone line enters the telco's network, it connects to a Broadband Loop Carrier that can service DSL and POTS and connects to an all-IP infrastructure. All voice traffic is carried back to the telco's VoIP infrastructure (soft switches, media gateways, etc). In the long run, if Covad were to deploy such a network throughout the US, their current investments and operating expenses in offering wholesale DSL services would be similar to the expense of operating this new network - without the hassles of handling voice with legacy TDM or ATM equipment. On further reading of their press release, I notice that Covad actually sees an opportunity to increase the number of customers they can service: "Unlike DSL broadband service, line-powered voice access is not distance sensitive. That means Covad's nationwide network will, in the future, be able to serve 40 percent more customers with basic voice services in the current Covad footprint." Other coverage on this topic: Covad Launches: I Can't Believe It's Not POTS VoIPAbout Me
Ram ViswanathanApple customer & fan, intrapreneur, @ramhv on twitter. Create and drive go-to-market initiatives for a major systems engineering & integration company headquartered in India with a presence in South Asia, Middle East, Africa, UK & Europe & North America.
