The Role of Systems Integrators in IPTV

The Role of Systems Integrators in IPTV

Much has been said about IPTV and the strategic and competitive importance this video technology offers telecom service providers across the globe. Less has been said about how to manage a successful implementation from the pre-deployment phase to day-to-day operations. This article identifies the three key categories of IPTV vendors, their similarities and differences, and what value they bring to a potential IPTV service provider and the value chain.

Introduction

The IPTV undertaking is seen as a vital strategic initiative as it enables telecom service providers to stabilize landline losses and provide competitive bundled service offerings (any combination of television and broadband with mobile and wireless) that enable telecom operators to challenge cable and satellite’s video dominance in the home. However, IPTV isn’t easy.

It’s an understatement to say that IPTV has lots of moving parts. The complexity is compounded because, although we are beginning to see some consolidation, there is still a plethora of IPTV middleware and software systems in the marketplace. In Western Europe, which has 55% of IPTV subscribers, early adopters of IPTV didn’t chose off-the-shelf solutions and preferred to build their own IPTV ecosystem. In 2007, an estimated 23% of IPTV subscribers were being served by proprietary IPTV middleware at operators like Italy’s FastWeb, France’s Neuf, Sweden’s TeliaSonera, and USA’s Verizon. The alternative approach is to choose one of many proven off-the-shelf IPTV middleware platforms with the tightly coupled ecosystem. In this category, Microsoft's Mediaroom has emerged as the Tier One telecom leader with over three million of the 26.7 million global IPTV subscribers and it is beginning to win Tier Two and cable companies over too, as the latter upgrade to DOCSIS 3.0.

Whichever middleware path is taken, there are three types of IPTV vendors who can play a role in the deployment and operation of a new IPTV service.

The Rationale for IPTV

The telecom service provider’s traditional landline voice business is being challenged from every corner – from mobile to VoIP services. A leading market research firm has been tracking telco revenues and has seen the subscriber base eroding by four to eight percent per year, which has doubled from earlier analysis and has led to flat revenues in recent years. Steve Rago, principal analyst for iSuppli says, “They [telcos] can’t exist as bulk voice carriers and must become multimedia content providers...They must re-invent themselves” .

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