IPTV:: Internet Protocol Television

What Is Internet Protocol Television? (IPTV)

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) delivers television programming to households via a broadband connection using Internet protocols. It requires a subscription and IPTV set-top box, and offers key advantages over existing TV cable and satellite technologies. IPTV is typically bundled with other services like Video on Demand (VOD), voice over IP (VOIP) or digital phone, and Web access, collectively referred to as Triple Play.

Because IPTV arrives over telephone lines, telephone companies are in a prime position to offer IPTV services initially, but it is expected that other carriers will offer the technology in the future. IPTV promises more efficient streaming than present technologies, and therefore theoretically reduced prices to operators and subscribers alike. However, it also adds many advantages that may play into market pricing.

One of the advantages of IPTV is the ability for digital video recorders (DVRs) to record multiple broadcasts at once. According to Alcatel, one leading provider, it will also be easier to find favorite programs by using "custom view guides." IPTV even allows for picture-in-picture viewing without the need for multiple tuners. You can watch one show, while using picture-in-picture to channel surf!

IPTV viewers will have full control over functionality such as rewind, fast-forward, pause, and so on. Using a cell phone or PDA, a subscriber might even utilize remote programming for IPTV. For example, if a dinner function runs longer than expected, you don't have to miss your favorite program. Just call home and remotely set the IPTV box to record it.

However, the real advantage of IPTV is that it uses Internet protocols to provide two-way communication for interactive television. One application might be in game shows in which the studio audience is asked to participate by helping a contestant choose between answers. IPTV opens the door to real-time participation from people watching at home. Another application would be the ability to turn on multiple angles of an event, such as a touchdown, and watch it from dual angles simultaneously using picture-in-picture viewing.

One can also receive Web service notifications while watching IPTV for things such as incoming email and instant messages. If you IPTV is packaged with digital phone, Caller ID might pop up on screen as your telephone rings. Source

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) & Broadband

According to a recent report by Cisco Systems Inc., total annual Internet traffic will quadruple by 2011, reaching a size of more than 342 exabytes (one exabyte is the equivalent of one trillion books of about 400 pages each).

[Falling Behind]

Global Comparison

In the U.S., where most of the critical infrastructure that led to the creation of the Internet originated, questions persist about how well-positioned the country is today. South Korea, for example, now generates about the same amount of Internet traffic as the U.S., with just one-sixth the population.

In terms of adoption, or the percentage of households using broadband, the U.S. ranks 10th out of the 30 leading industrialized countries that are members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based research and policy group. The U.S. was among the leaders in this category at the beginning of the decade. The U.S. fares only slightly better in affordability, ranking 11th most affordable, behind countries such as Italy and Norway.

The U.S. has fallen behind in speed, too. In the same study, conducted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, the U.S. ranked 15th in the average advertised download speed, at 4.9 megabits a second. That's slower than the 17.6 megabits a second in France and the 63.6 megabits a second in Japan, which ranks No. 1 in this category. In other words, it takes a little over two minutes to download a movie on iTunes in Japan, compared with almost half an hour in the U.S. The average U.S. download speed is even slower, according to other estimates.According to a recent report by Cisco Systems Inc., total annual Internet traffic will quadruple by 2011, reaching a size of more than 342 exabytes (one exabyte is the equivalent of one trillion books of about 400 pages each).

[Falling Behind]

Global Comparison

Critics of the notion that Internet service in the U.S. is falling behind other countries say gaps stem from cultural and political differences. More than half the citizens of South Korea, for example, live in multitenant buildings of at least 50 units concentrated in large cities, making it easier and cheaper to connect people there, according to a report this month from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. In the U.S., by contrast, most people live in single-family homes.

Other countries, such as France, have benefited from increased competition by governments forcing their former telecom monopolies to open their networks to new providers. In the U.S., the regional successors to the former Ma Bell resisted such regulatory efforts, arguing it made little sense for them to invest in their networks if forced to share them with potential competitors.

As a result, in most markets in the U.S. there have been only two broadband providers, one telecom and one cable company. While some countries were aggressively trying to catch up to the U.S. Internet lead, "not much changed in the U.S.," says Susan Crawford, a professor of Internet governance at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Change is finally starting to happen, as cable and telecom companies compete more aggressively in each other's traditional businesses. Bills are now making their way through Congress to remove the state barriers to municipalities offering broadband. And the Federal Communications Commission recently revamped its definition of broadband, which had been just 200 kilobits a second, to bring it more up-to-date. It now includes several tiers of speeds, starting at 768 kilobits per second.

Verizon Communications Inc. is in the midst of a $23 billion project, called FiOS, to bring fiber to the homes of more than half of its 33 million customers in 28 states by 2010. Comcast last month began boosting speeds on its network, and estimates 20% of its customers will have access to faster speeds by the end of the year.

Still, these ultrafast networks are destined only for certain parts of the country, such as major urban areas, at least for the foreseeable future. In large swaths of the U.S., particularly second- and third-tier cities and towns with more dispersed populations, providers consider deploying broadband less profitable.