Posted on November 19, 2009 by Mari Silbey
It’s been more than a year since the bottom fell out of the market here in the US, but despite the recession, certain spending trends are still on their way up. According to The NPD Group, per-capita spending on entertainment subscriptions is now up to $115 a month, with 81 percent of Americans subscribing to some type of pay-TV service. That’s a seven percent increase in spending over last year. To top it off, a quick look at Retrevo’s consumer data for TV purchases suggests that demand is spiking earlier this fourth quarter than it did in 2008. That could mean better overall numbers for TV purchasing in the holiday season.
To go along with the entertainment trend, Internet connectivity continues to hold its own regarding share of the consumer household budget. In addition to fixed-line Internet subscriptions (76% of households have them), mobile data plans are growing in popularity, hiking up to nine percent of US consumers from six percent last year. Given the momentum behind 4G technologies, I’m guessing that number will go up significantly in 2010 and 2011.
While I’d be loathe to suggest the TV and Internet industries are recession proof, the numbers this time around look good. It’s not a bad thing to be in the broadband business.
Filed under: Internet, TV | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 18, 2009 by Mari Silbey
IP video is the topic that keeps on giving for tech journalists, and I’ve read any number of articles lately addressing different aspects of IP delivery. Here are a few I’ve run across, compiled with some of my own commentary.
IPTV Discussion Gets Real
Jonathan Tombes over at Communications Technology magazine has an excellent article out detailing cable operator discussions of IP video delivery. He covers everything from consolidating CPE, to the role of the CMTS, to creating more efficient networks. On that final point, Tombes cites a statistic saying that variable bit rate encoding (VBR) can enable 50% more video streams than constant bit rate encoding (CBR). According to a Motorola paper presented back at SCTE, however, that projection for VBR might be a bit rosy. Factoring in packet recovery appears to reduce those gains to a more realistic 20-25%. As Tombes points out, though, VBR is not the only efficiency-driving technology on the horizon. Operators are also looking at IP multicasting.
thePlatform Plugs in TV Everywhere
Jeff Baumgartner weighs in today on an announcement from thePlatform that the company is releasing its own, um, platform for enabling programmers to offer TV Everywhere content on their own sites. The key component of the new solution appears to be its Authentication Adapter. While executives moaned a mere few months ago about the problems of authentication, including its complexity and the fact that operators are approaching it from different angles, it now appears that we’re well on our way to having those dilemmas solved. The Authentication Adapter is designed to validate legitimate subscribers, authorize video playback, and match up video title data with the right channel line-up and subscription package. As Jeff explains, the new solution means that the same type of authentication system could be used whether on-demand content is aggregated or doled out individually by programmers.
The End of the Broadband Buffet is Nigh
Finally, Stacey Higginbotham posted yesterday on hints that the flat-price model for broadband fees may be on its way out as video demand increases. The debate between flat-fee service and tiered pricing (or metered broadband) has been going on for some time, but Stacey specifically points out Verizon’s reasons behind its support for consumption-based billing, and why having plenty of bandwidth doesn’t mean the company thinks flat fees are the right long-term answer. In short, Verizon has spent a lot of money on its fiber-to-the-home network and sees tiered broadband as the “fairest cost recovery model.” With the wave of TV Everywhere services on its way, there will soon be serious value in having higher bandwidth limits in consumer broadband service plans. Perceived value signals to providers that they should consider premium prices. It’s the very simple law of supply and demand. Will consumers pay? The history of the cable industry suggests they (we) will.
Filed under: IP, IPTV, Internet, TV, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 17, 2009 by Mari Silbey
With LTE networks fast on their way, it’s no surprise to hear that Motorola has a TD-LTE USB adapter in the works. In an announcement out today about the upcoming World Expo 2010 in Shanghai China, Motorola threw in a note that it will launch the world’s first TD-LTE USB dongle at the show. The dongle/adapter will support both 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands, and will be on hand for demonstrations of high-bandwidth video streaming at the event.
I have no images of the LTE USB adapter yet, so I dug into the archives for photos of the in-progress WiMAX USB adapter. Below on the left is an early prototype, followed by a photo of the version I have today, followed by a pic of the next-gen product due out this quarter.
As a reminder of Motorola’s ongoing LTE work, here are some recent milestones and points of interest for context:
Filed under: CE, Internet, LTE, Motorola News, Networks, Wireless | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 16, 2009 by Mari Silbey
Motorola Home and Networks Mobility went through a big acquisition phase a couple years back, but since then things have been somewhat quiet on the M&A front. That changed today with the announcement that Motorola is in the process of acquiring BitBand. As with previous acquisitions, the BitBand purchase fills out a critical segment of Motorola’s video portfolio. BitBand is a content management and CDN provider focused on IP video on demand.
There are several ways that BitBand ties in with Motorola’s existing business:
- As an extension of the company’s on-demand portfolio
Remember, Motorola’s focused a lot of attention on VOD this past year, introducing the Adaptive Media Management framework and passing the milestone of one million on-demand streams shipped
- As an extension to Motorola’s IP video portfolio
This includes IP set-tops, DOCSIS video delivery, the transport gateway, the Storefront service delivery platform, and Microsoft Mediaroom integration expertise
- As a bridge to the next generation of TV delivery
Television of the future includes both traditional TV and over-the-top video
BitBand brings an impressive CV with it to the Motorola family. The IP video specialist has more than 60 commercial IPTV deployments worldwide, with a particularly strong base in Europe (a useful complement to Motorola’s access network customer footprint there). BitBand has also won a number of awards in its ten-year history, including the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer award, a listing among Harvard Business School Alumni Club’s “25 companies that will transform the world,” and the VentureWire Investors’ Choice award.
More to come after the deal closes. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Filed under: IP, IPTV, Motorola News, Networks, TV, VOD, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 13, 2009 by Mari Silbey
Folks from Motorola’s CTO office have been getting around. Last month John Ulm presented on engineering IP video at SCTE, and this month Dan Tell took the stage to talk mobile video at the Telco TV show. His major theme? Mobile TV will be less like living-room TV, and more like Internet TV on the go – personalized, interactive, available everywhere. Content will become even more of a service than it is today, and that begs a question. What are the requirements for a viable mobile TV offering?
According to Tell, there are three basic features that will make a mobile TV service compelling:
- The ability to access live content either via broadcast or a video “slinging” solution
- A huge library of on-demand content – movies, shows, clips, USG, etc.
- A hybrid streaming/download option for access to video with or without a broadband connection
That sounds like a tall order for any single content service today, but without a doubt we’re getting closer to making it possible. TV Everywhere services, like the one Comcast is launching next month, are a start on the on-demand side, and the smartphone explosion is freeing Internet video from the PC. Meanwhile, there’s recognition in the industry that we need to consolidate broadcast standards, which should speed up mobile broadcasting efforts, and slinging may be losing some of its controversial air as Internet-based video grows in popularity. That leaves us with the hybrid streaming/download solution. Adding on a download component to an existing streaming service is a matter of logistics, but it hinges on the ability to create a scalable business model that combines incremental purchases or rentals with video supported by targeted advertising. This is probably the most difficult challenge mobile TV faces, but it’s being worked on even as I type this, by Motorola and others.
One final note: Dan Tell put together a great chart (at right) showing the adoption timelines for several major consumer technologies. Mobile TV is barely out of its infancy. If tradition holds, major adoption will take place over the next few years.
Filed under: Internet, TV, Video, Wireless | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 12, 2009 by Mari Silbey
Remember those dire predictions over the summer from folks saying we wouldn’t see a national roll-out of TV Everywhere until 2012 or 2014? Well, time for the experts to eat their hats. Several people are reporting on Twitter that Comcast just announced at the NewTeeVee Live conference that it will launch TV Everywhere for everyone next month. There will be no additional cost to Comcast subscribers, and apparently the on-demand content will be available on up to three devices.
A quick reminder of what’s behind the scenes with this news: Comcast has been bulking up on bandwidth over the last year, with more more than 34 million homes now passed with DOCSIS 3.0 service. The operator has also reclaimed spectrum by transitioning more analog channels over to digital. All of this was carefully planned just for the eventuality of TV Everywhere and other video demands. Welcome to the future.
Filed under: Comcast, DOCSIS 3.0, DTV, Internet, TV, Video | 19 Comments »
Posted on November 11, 2009 by Mari Silbey
There’s been a lot of news out of Clearwire this week, and all of it appears good for consumers. First, there are reports that investors are planning to throw another $1.5 billion into the pot for Clearwire’s national WiMAX network. The extra cash should help keep up the company’s recent market-launch momentum (can I put in a request for New York and DC?) and give cable partners wider reach with a quadruple play offering. Second, Clearwire just announced its third quarter numbers. According to the 4G provider, 49,000 new subscribers (including me) signed up for Clear WiMAX service in the recent three-month period. Given the still-limited availability, that’s not a bad number, and the demand has got to provide fuel for further network build-outs.
If you look at Motorola’s Q3 shipment numbers, there’s indirect supporting evidence for Clearwire’s accelerated WiMAX push in the second half of 2009. While Motorola has many WiMAX customers across the globe, there was a big jump in WiMAX equipment shipments in Q3, at least some of which has to be attributable to Clearwire.
Finally on the updates front, it looks like the ill-fated Xohm brand is finally being phased out. Clearwire has apparently started sending notices to current Xohm customers telling them how to get upgraded equipment and/or software in order to transition to the Clear network. Clearwire will provide everything at no cost and promises no service interruptions. Nice.
Filed under: Internet, Networks, WiMAX, Wireless | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 10, 2009 by Mari Silbey
Remember the new gateway Motorola announced at the SCTE show? The SB6180 has a hefty eight downstream and four upstream channels, and it just came through CableLabs Certification Wave 70 for DOCSIS 3.0 with flying colors. If all that was gibberish to you, it means the gateway is certified to support channel bonding. Eight bonded channels downstream and four bonded channels upstream give the gateway potential speeds of up to 300 Mbps and more than 100 Mbps respectively.
As Jeff Baumgartner points out, the new SB6180 is the first D3-certified product from Motorola with a Broadcom chip. It also has an embedded 802.11n wireless access point, four-port router, and remote management capabilities.
Filed under: Bandwidth, CE, DOCSIS 3.0, Internet, Motorola News | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 9, 2009 by Mari Silbey
Motorola has worked in conjunction with Microsoft for many IPTV deployments, both in providing IP set-tops and in doing back-office integration with Microsoft Mediaroom and Motorola’s CCE software. However, today there’s a press release out announcing a more formalized relationship. Motorola is now officially providing systems integration support for Mediaroom deployments.
While an IT services contract doesn’t sound like big news, it does hint at some of the software complexity in IPTV delivery, particularly as operators add increasingly more content and consumer services. Actually, the issue isn’t really one of IP delivery; it’s relevant for any kind of TV offering. Cable industry folks were discussing the same challenges in content and service management and back-office integration at the recent SCTE show. Television used to be so straight forward. Those days are long gone.
Filed under: IPTV, Motorola News, TV | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 5, 2009 by Mari Silbey
Much of the television industry’s focus right now is on how to move content around – whether through multi-room DVR, TV Everywhere initiatives, or device-to-device transfers. However, there’s a corollary issue that’s also being explored: how to move user navigation features around to different devices. Let’s say you can access the content on your DVR from a mobile phone. Does that mean you can access and control the set-top’s user interface directly as well? Or do you need to jury-rig that part of the operation?
At SCTE last week, I started to hear more about the CEA standard, CEA-2014 (also referred to as just CE-2014). According to the CEA website, the standard “defines the necessary mechanisms to allow a user interface to be remotely displayed on and controlled by devices or control points other than the one hosting the logic.” However, I thought someone in the Cable-Tec Expo opening session defined it better in context. I believe it was Charter CTO Marwan Fawaz who described MoCA as the physical in-home network, DLNA as the networking standard that allows device discovery, and CE-2014 as the standard that moves navigation around to different devices.
So far no one has implemented CE-2014, and a quick survey of industry friends suggests there hasn’t been much movement in the last year. However, I heard the topic come up more than once at last week’s show. Perhaps it’s something to watch out for in 2010.
Filed under: DVR, Networks, TV | Leave a Comment »
