View from IBC: Operators on Solid Ground

IBC has always been a platform for showcasing the next big thing in pay TV. Operators come to hear about the latest technology platforms and get a sense of what is real and what is purely in the demo stage. Because of the innovation explosion that has occurred in this industry over the past several years, we were seeing operators actually delay decisions on building out new networks. Too many variables were unresolved.  

Operators didn’t want to get stuck with the last MPEG-2 only set-top box. They were waiting to see how Microsoft’s VC-1 was going to compete with the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. Cablevision and its plans for network DVRs were embroiled in legal battles with film studios and television networks (their latest victory appears to be the final word). And telcos wanted to be sure that software-based content security would deliver on its promise of scalability, performance and cost-effectiveness. 

Now the majority of these outstanding issues have been largely resolved, which frees operators to make solid investment decisions and launch exciting, new services. I call this a “mainstreaming” of the most viable concepts. For operators, the future clearly includes HD, MPEG-4 broadcasts with time and place shifting capabilities, which really have become the standard. 

A contributing factor of this type of standardization is the activity and changes within each technology vendor category. Consolidation and market conditions have produced some obvious winners along the entire development platform. There is generally a handful of established players and a lot less, yet innovative, companies that are offering disruptive technologies.

The irony is that despite the current market conditions, service providers are actually operating on more solid ground. Outstanding issues have been resolved, technologies have caught up with the hype and research suggests people are finding more time to watch TV.

Our VCAS 3.0 release is a good example. We have extended its functionality and focus to secure new revenue streams from content portability (such as supporting adaptive rate streaming for three screens and securing content over unmanaged networks).

Because we have proven software-based security in large IPTV deployments and have executed on our technology roadmap, we are engaged with major TV operators with complex issues. We have been able to mainstream our approach to content security to effectively address issues well beyond IP-based networks.  

Customers have a better understanding of their challenges and know what they want in order to launch their new services.