IP TV: The Next Wave of Telco Spending
By Jessica Davis -- EDN, October 5, 2005
Just as cable television companies have finished putting the final touches on upgraded networks that allow them to offer services such as voice over IP that promise to win dollars away from the telcos, those telcos are looking at adding some new services of their own.
Telcos are looking to add video services to their line up of offerings, and chipmakers and OEMs are creating the devices to make that happen.
Texas Instruments this week announced plans to add IP video to its residential gateway chipset for ADSL-based gateways, opening the door for telcos that want to offer cable television-like service to their customers.
“There are telcos using it today,” said Kurt Eckles, manager of customer marketing and business development for the residential gateway and embedded systems group at TI. Early partners have worked with TI and its OEMs to put such networks into place already.
TI’s new chipset is aimed at the Asian and European markets, which are well ahead of their North American counterparts in offering the technology to consumers.
For example, one of TI’s early customers for the technology is a company called Video Networks in London, which has created a service called HomeChoice.
“It’s one of the best successes we’ve had so far,” said Eckles. “Their entire service for voice over IP and 140 channels of video is just 15 British pounds a month which is about $20 a month. They are redefining the market.”
But although North America is slower to catch on, there are still some innovation going on here, too.
“IPTV deployment is really starting to just take shape,” said Randy Shapiro, VP of marketing at Eagle Broadband, which began offering IP set top boxes to American markets early this year. The company has already won several customers, he said, most notably Hometown Cable in Ohio and All Access Technologies in Florida.
Hometown cable is a new fiber broadband provider that plans to offer triple play services in several communities in Ohio. All Access Technologies is focusing on multiple dwelling units such as luxury condominium complexes and apartments to deliver triple play services. They plan to target large metro markets including Dallas, Las Vegas and New York.
And while it’s just starting to take shape now, many players are expecting big returns from the IP TV market.
“The IPTV market TV market will be a third of the digital market by the end of the decade,” said TI’s Eckles.
And television won’t be the only industry to change.
“Projections are for IP TV to really represent the next wave in telco spending,” Shapiro said. “There is a pretty significant shift occurring.”
