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To Be Successful, IPTV Operators Must Control Home Gateway and NetworkTMCnet Associate Editor
Service providers gearing up to deploy IPTV need to extend their management systems to include the home network if they are to be successful, a new report from the market research firm Multimedia Research Group (MRG) finds.
The report, “IPTV Home Networking Strategies 2006,” describes the strategic importance of the home network for operators. It describes how a home networking strategy can improve the competitiveness of an IPTV service against cable and satellite, and give the IPTV operator good positioning in the looming battle against the home computer and consumer electronics industries. According to the study, IPTV technology will enable operators to do things with home networks that cannot be done with cable or DSL video services. Specifically, they can use the home gateway and IPTV set-top-box to provide both local and network based services. This will give operators an important advantage because neither the cable or satellite companies have the two-way communications infrastructure to do this. Furthermore, by extending management into the home network, operators can better tailor their services to meet their customers’ needs. For example, by knowing which devices are being operated in a particular room, and how they are being used, operators can tailor bandwidth availability and the types of services that are being delivered based on a “room-by-room” analysis. “Winning at the IPTV game requires a three-prong strategy,” said Bob Larribeau, principle of Larribeau Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in telecommunications data technologies. “Operators need a flexible approach to the physical network in the home along with strong commitment to managing the home network and using it as a platform for delivering a rich set of services.” The report recommends various strategies and architectures for interconnecting both AV and PC devices in the home, and reviews the costs, risks and opportunities for each strategy. The report also reviews the trends in the physical aspects of home networking and in new architectures for managing and offering diverse services over home networks. While there is strong interest in the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard, it will not be available until 2007, meaning that operators will have to adopt coaxial cable and power-line solutions in the interim. For more information, visit http://www.mrgco.com/. Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page. |