IPTV first trailed in 1994, but despite the proliferation of broadband across the UK in the ensuing years, its market penetration has been minimal up till now.

That’s not to say that home users aren’t using the internet for TV, on-demand streaming services such as iPlayer and SkyGo are testament to the fact they are. However, these services are what you might describe as hybrid IPTV, given they combine IP with traditional broadcast services. ‘True’ IPTV offers far greater benefits than what most of us experience currently; users have more choice of channels, significantly higher capacity for TV and video sources, as well as increased scope for customised features and levels of interaction (eg. Smart TV) . IPTV can also equate to a more efficient use of resources, through what we might term ‘network convergence’ i.e where business and consumers are able to use one unified connection for data, voice, tv etc.

One of the reasons why IPTV hasn’t fulfilled its potential is bandwidth, or rather – lack of it. However between Q3 in 2010 and Q3 2011 Europe witnessed a growth of approximately 68% in VDSL and FFTH services – opening doors for IPTV to make its way into our living rooms.

Another significant development has been IPV6 and its capacity to support multicasting more effectively. Multicast will allow network providers to disseminate information for IPTV more efficiently and at a cheaper cost – which should translate to a better customer experience and increased adoption.

What is important to consider from a technical and industry perspective, is the support and maintenance requirements, which will need to be of a high standard in order for the service to run smoothly. While TV might not be a business critical application, broadband bug bears like contention, outages could have grave dilemma’s, say if your service was to freeze during a dramatic scene in a East Enders Christmas special, or a tie breaker during a Wimbledon final.

So will the next few years see IPTV takeover traditional broadcast formats?  As long as service providers can offer more robust, consistent broadband connections I can’t see why not – multicast should help ISP’s minimise long term costs, and there is already strong consumer demand for unified services in the home. Personally a  ‘Smart’ IP controlled TV – with access to all channels from multiple devices, and the capacity to record and store as I like , anywhere , anytime – would be a welcome addition to my household.

169 days to go

Due to preparations for the Olympics this summer, Transport for London (TfL) are putting in place an embargo on all planned street work starting on 1st March 2012 that will prevent any road works on the key parts of the London Olympic Route Network (ORN).  Restrictions will continue to affect us until they are fully lifted on 30th September. However, it is worth noting that beyond this date a backlog of work may exist, delaying installations further.

It is therefore important to ensure early action is taken to complete Fibre Ethernet Access orders for Optical and Ethernet based services that will:

1.  Terminate on the core Olympic Route Network (core roads, sites, venues and the Main A501 Road)

2.  May require some form of construction work (digs, test roding etc) on the Core Olympic Route Network

Therefore, fibre orders must be placed by the end of February at the very latest if you wish for your service  to start before the Olympics.

A detailed map of the ORN route can be found on the following TFL map, where the London roads highlighted in Red and Blue are the ones affected:

http://www.london2012.com/olympic-route-network/maps/orn-overview.pdf

(N.B. this map can be zoomed to give a road by road level of detail)

A further embargo on the rest of the ORN (and most other central London streets) will come into operation on 1st July, so those orders would need to be with Openreach by May. This will impact most streets within the north and south circular and some areas of Greater London.

This week saw LG launch its new SMART fridge at the Consumer Electronics Show. While ‘white goods’ aren’t normally on my radar, the new LG SMART fridge has caught my eye. Not only does it put connectivity to a very clever use , it also quite simply offers an ingenuous solution to a very common problem.

The SMART fridge has a large LCD touch-screen and camera, as well as an internet connection which allows it to download recipes and automatically add food to a user’s online shopping account when stocks are running low. Once a recipe is chosen, the fridge can switch on the oven to the correct temperature and set a timer via a wireless connection.  All that is left is for the cook to follow the recipe displayed on the LCD screen on the fridge door. The camera allows you to see what is in your fridge from a mobile phone, including sell-by dates of foods – handy if you have left your shopping list at home.

If all of that doesn’t strike you as compelling enough a reason to seriously consider buying into this ‘Next-Gen’ lifestyle, then consider this next feature; the fridge’s “blast-chiller” drawer, which swirls chilled air to prevent ice crystals from forming, can chill a bottle of wine in eight minutes and a beer can in five. SOLD.

The SMART fridge highlights the opportunities presented to us by internet connectivity and also the pressing need for IPv6 adoption. In recent times we have witnessed the explosion of handheld devices, such as smart phones and tablets, all needing their own IP address, now it would appear our household devices are set to become net-centric too. Such developments not only exacerbate the depletion of IPv4, they also illustrate the benefit of IPv6 – as the protocol allows for multiple devices to have individual IP public addresses behind one connection.

Read our latest opinion piece: http://www.telecoms.com/38592/4g-and-the-race-to-provide-superfast-broadband/

A technology report by Accenture, based on television viewing and purchasing habits, has highlighted some interesting figures – emphasising the shift towards Internet based television streaming. Discussion of the swing towards ‘on demand’ television is by no means a new topic , but the speed of this change will come as a shock to many television makers and broadcasters.

The report shows that the number of consumers who watch broadcast or cable television in a typical week plunged to 48% in 2011 from 71% in 2009. Accenture’s explanation for the trend is that the TV is losing ground to other devices – smart phones, laptops and tablets – in the battle for consumer eyeballs. The survey does not conclude that everyone has suddenly stopped watching video and starting reading books and listening to the radio; rather, consumers are simply doing their watching in different places, on different devices.

It is interesting to note that of the 1,000 people surveyed over a wide range of countries 53% own a Smartphone, (up from 28% in 2010) tablet ownership jumped to 12%, from 8% in 2010. The percentage of the survey group that intends to buy a Smartphone jumped to 27%, from 24%. For tablets, the number of consumers who plan to make a purchase jumped to 16%, from 8% a year ago.

I would be intrigued to see the affects the tablet and live online net streaming will have on broadcast figures for the 2012 games. Will viewing figures be ‘down’ based on trends as detailed above? If we are all watching online how will connectivity networks cope? We wouldn’t want to miss those Golden Olympic moments due to a spluttering contention effected streaming signal… if that is the case I will happily re-establish my relationship with TV, as I’m sure millions of others will too.