February 20, 2006
Technology in Focus features analysis of recent technology news articles, by the consultants in Technology Group, IDA. This is the top pick of the month from a list of 10-20 news analysis compiled monthly.
MSOs Face Possible Capacity Crunch, Cable Digital News, 01 Feb 2006
by Ong Kian Lin, Senior Consultant, Network Technologies
Cable technologists & MSOs in US are increasingly concerned about the growing number of emerging video players and video-like competitors. They noted that the rapidly expanding roster of rivals now stretches well beyond such usual suspects as the two satellite TV providers, Verizon Communications and the new AT&T Inc. to include such major Web portals as Google and Yahoo!, such consumer electronics and computer giants as Sony and Apple Computer, and even wireless service providers.
This heightening competition is a concern for the cable industry not just because video is its core, traditional market. Cable officials also worry that rivals like the Baby Bells will use cutting-edge TV offerings, most notably IPTV, to lure away existing and potential consumers and capture their data and voice market share as well. Cable operators may lose their leading position as video providers if they don't embrace at least parts of the ever popular IPTV technology, which spell out "great features" such as multiple picture-in-picture applications, instant-channel change and better control of targeted ad insertion. IPTV also enables the flexibility of unicast delivery (one stream to one home).
Unlike cable, telco-delivered IPTV is switched digital by nature, making it inherently capable of rapidly delivering such advanced services as video-on-demand (VOD). In addition, telco IPTV, unlike cable, doesn't depend on shared bandwidth access and doesn't require tuner-based set-top boxes. This enables VOD to scale quite nicely with telco’s infrastructure.
Like cable, though, telco IPTV does have its technical drawbacks. Phone companies that do not deploy fibre to the home will run into tight bandwidth constraints because of the 20+ Megabits per second (Mbps) downstream limits of their new ADSL2+ and VDSL2 technologies(distance limitation). At the least, such bandwidth limitations will force the Bells to squeeze more video channels into less channel space, potentially hurting picture quality. The challenge is to be able to simultaneously put in so many HD and SD services while maintaining enough bandwidth for data and VoIP.
Besides the obvious video threats posed by Verizon, AT&T, BellSouth and other Bells, cable technologists pointed to the less direct threats posed by such new, "over-the-top" video players as Google, AOL and Yahoo. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier last month, for example, Google unveiled plans to enter the pay video business with on-demand programming from CBS, the National Basketball Association and other content providers. Ironically, the majority of Google's customers would likely use cable's very own broadband pipes to access the competing Web video content.
This explains why the cable industry is now also looking aggressively into "switched digital video" to increase network efficiency. Calling it "useful in transition" and "a key component of NGNA (the cable industry's Next Generation Network Architecture project)," these proponents argued that switched digital video would help MSOs move quicker toward the promised land of IPTV and personalized, on-demand video services.
There are various means to deliver switched digital video though. Cisco Systems Inc proposes a future-looking solution dubbed "V-DOC" who advocates unifying video and data transport on the cable access network by relying on the proposed DOCSIS 3.0 spec for IP video delivery. A big wideband proponent, "V-DOC," would enable cable operators to offer advanced services while reducing both their operating and capital expenses. Cisco also acknowledges that the high costs of CMTS ports represent a challenge to the broad deployment of V-DOCSIS today. But it contended that the combination of DOCSIS 3.0 and the forthcoming M-CMTS architecture would both increase available bandwidth and reduce port costs through the use of universal edge QAMs. Cisco also noted that the elimination of the physical layer would make V-DOC less expensive than anticipated.
Cisco's "V-DOC" solution would, however, require major revamps in networks. There are other vendors, such as BroadLogic, which suggest a less rigorous approach to making the transition. BroadLogic proposes a way to convert cable networks to all-digital without eliminating analogue TV services. Its plan would use a "residential node," or gateway, that would take an all-digital signal from the network and then either pass along the signal to set-top boxes or down-convert the signal to analogue for delivery to standard TV sets. The residential node proposal would boost cable system capacity and create the potential for greater personalization of programming and advertising without alienating analogue customers or forcing MSOs to upgrade every single analogue home to digital service. BroadLogic also alleged the creation of the residential nodes would cost less than installing several new digital set-top boxes in each analogue home.
Some words about the writer
Ong Kian Lin is a Senior Consultant with the Technology Group, tasked with the responsibility of identifying and driving the adoption of emerging telecommunication technologies in Singapore. He specializes in a wide range of wireline technologies, including Passive Optical network, ADSL and Cable Network.
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