p22-24,26-27 IPTV@IBC08 Networks v4 23/7/08 14:32 Page 26
IPTV@IBC08 > The networked home Cable & Satellite Europe
Delivering content point, mobile handsets can seamlessly exchange content
to the PC as well as with the other devices of the home network, both as
the TV is seen as servers and clients,” says Pellegrini. “In a facilitated
attractive by IPTV media sharing environment, the IPTV box remains a
operators. central hub and provides more occasions for the con-
sumer to interact with the managed service offering.”
Non-commercial services
In a number of European countries, there is a strong
interest in using IPTV to deliver non-commercial social
and usability of the web interface.” Fautier says one fea- services. “We believe community services that have a
ture is the ability to deliver user-generated content to the social benefit and could save money for the community
TV. “On the demonstration we’ve been showing PC con- will be attractive,” says Per Skyttval, CEO of Sweden-
tent from a site like YouTube being delivered to the TV,” based middleware provider Dreampark (IBC Stand
he says. “However, there is some level of video process- 5.A21). “An example of such a service is Nurse Gudrun [a
ing that has to take place when you’re going from Flash- conferencing system where elderly people connect a web
based files to something you want to show on TV from a camera to their set-tops to communicate with healthcare
quality perspective. That’s one of the areas we’re working providers] where there is a lot of money saved for the
on. You also have to think about the management of mil- community by offering videoconferencing instead of
lions of assets. There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle.” having patients visit their healthcare provider in person.
While there are hurdles (not least providing sufficient It is currently a key issue for IPTV operators to identify
bandwidth to give a high-quality experience on the TV these types of services where there is a clear economic
screen), the opportunity is immense, and could provide benefit. Many non-commercial IP-services will evolve
a competitive edge for IPTV. “It’s not simple and opera- over the coming year as demands from landlords, health-
tors need help but we think we have good technology,” care services and communities spring up constantly.
says Fautier. “This will be a trend, mostly for IPTV oper- Examples of these demands include reserving washing
ators at the moment because cable operators do not have machines in the common areas of apartment buildings,
the capability in their set-top boxes at the moment – medication reminders, voting in municipality elections,
there are too many legacy problems. It’s a chance for and so on. These kinds of services are being tested right
IPTV operators to offer something different and as they now and will be part of IPTV services in the near future.”
have a fully-IP-based architecture from network to set- Services of this type could have a strong appeal in ter-
top-box to home network, it’s easier for them.” ritories where multi-dwelling units are common and
Pirelli’s Pellegrini says the IP-based connected home decisions on the purchase of triple-play services may be
will offer an opportunity for operators to stay in the pic- taken on a collective basis. “Already in Sweden, when
ture as a “digital lifestyle facilitator”. “This is the role that landlords purchase IPTV/TV systems they are highlight-
we try help them to find with our connected home port- ing these new demands and the need for systems to be
folio: our goal is to make the connected home an envi- prepared for new open IP services,” says Skyttval.
ronment in which the consumer can enjoy both the free- The key to operators remains to find some way to
dom of its own personal and ‘un-managed’ applications, make money from managed home networks. “For an
and the quality of telco ‘managed’ services,” he says. operator it’s about trying to find out if there is any money
The integration of the walled-garden with the wider to be made in home networks with services around it,”
internet is key. “In this balanced mix, which avoids the says Nick Fielibert, CTO, EMEA, APAC service provider
constraining proposition of a walled-garden approach, technology group/principal engineer, Cisco Systems
stands the optimal role which we see for operators trying (IBC Stand 1.D71). While some operators want to deliver
to develop a business model around the connected pay services to other devices, others are looking more to
home,” he says. “One of the main drivers of this business enable consumers to move their own media around the
model is that a rich quad-play CPE bundle able to favour home and onto the set-top box, he says. Even without an
such mix, is a strong tool for customer retention, churn obvious business model to support home-networking,
reduction and optional value added services upsell.” operators may feel compelled to offer it in order to “own
Integration of mobile devices into the home network the home” before someone else does.
is also something that Pirelli is working on. “At the appli- There are a number of hurdles to overcome. “You
cation layer, our home gateways and set-top box products need something that can police the network and only
support rich-media sharing functionalities for personal allow traffic you can support,” says Fielibert. The opera-
content and with the addition of our 3G Femtocell access tor will also need to police the physical connection
searchable archive at www.informamedia.com
26
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40