A Look at IPTV

Q-Tip writes "Ars Technica has posted an introduction to IPTV, which is the TV programming technology AT&T (and formerly BellSouth) will be using to provide TV service over its next-gen optical network. The article covers how IPTV works and how AT&T and other providers will be able to provide more interactive services once their networks are up and running."

Comments

Interactive services?

[91degrees]

I don't want an interactive service. I want to passively sit on my butt and watch TV!

Re:Interactive services?

[LordSnooty]

Mod him up. Interactive services are the great white (red?) elephants of modern TV. Content providers only push them as a revenue stream. They rarely offer anything insightful - in the UK, I can only think of the BBC's sport coverage, offering eg actions from many courts at Wimbledon. In the commercial sector, just ask Andy Duncan of Channel 4 whether interactive services are worthwhile. In the US, do we see much interactive penetration? Has Fox convinced idiots to part with money to vote via the TV on American Idol? For this is surely the only useful application, in their eyes.

Yes, but when?

[matr0x_x]

Saying it will work on the "next-gen optical network" doesn't provide a time line for someone as uneducated as myself. Could someone please put a rough time line on this?

Re:Yes, but when?

[CaymanIslandCarpedie]

The timeline would be roughtly never. You need to understand the history of the US telcos corruption. The most glaring example of this in relation to broadband was they 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act where the telecos lobbied for and recieved more than $200 Billion (yes billion) in tax breaks and other benefits in exchange for thier promise to build out "next gen" internet access with at least 45 Mbps.

Or course once they got the money they decided DSL would be much cheaper to build out and they could still charge customers a lot for it (even though its only a fraction of the speed promised). So this little "bait and switch" is why the US is still sitting at our measily DSL speeds while Japan, Korea, and much of Europe are now in the 45-100 Mbps ranges.

My guess is all this talk is because its been a decade and they see a president who LOVES giving away hundreds of billions of dollars away to huge corporations via tax cuts so it might be a good time to hit up the tax payers for another few hundred billion on more empty promises.

I find it just amazing the congress never even tried to hold the telecos to thier promises. I guess they had some pretty good lobbiests or congress just really is that inept (or both).

Hmm HDTV Still Cripled...

[Xserv]

This doesn't seem like a good idea. The bandwidth is STILL an issue and it's crippling HDTV signals still. Isn't this kind of a waste of time? Xserv

Re:Hmm HDTV Still Cripled...

[Xserv]

I see what you're saying here but look at it from a central office perspective. They have bottleneck issues now, what's adding a few TB of video from 500 customers per region going to do to the CO? I have a pretty solid feeling it's going to stifle the abilities of all services. You only have as much bandwidth as the central office's pipe to the rest of the network.

FTFA:

". . .MPEG-2 streams will require almost twice the space (3.5 Mbps for SDTV, 18-20 Mbps for HDTV). . ."

That leaves you 0-2MB for anything else per subscriber based on the 20MB next gen ADSL estimates. So an HD customer is going to get degraded quality which defeats the purpose of HD signals or you'll get only one stream which eliminates the ability to use PVR. Am I wrong here and just not seeing something?

Xserv

next-gen optical network.

[quakeroatz]

next-gen optical nework.
Nice! I was waiting for them to find something faster than slow old......light

Television is changing

[Anonymous Coward]

No, Television is dying on its ass. Its got nothing to do with technology and everything to do with content.
Not wanting to throw the usual Slashdot cynicism about here, but 'TV is DEAD!!'
Even the dullest couch potatoes I know are turning off their TVs and finding more interesting things to do with life.
I must have heard it 20 times a week, "Wow there's nothing but shite on TV isn't there?". Maybe its the war and the depressing Orwellian propaganda? Maybe its the new depths advertising has sunk to blatently insulting the viewers self esteem? Maybe its that cheap reality TV has exhausted everyones patience?

What do kids talk about? Funny video clips they got off Flickr or YouTube, and more and more I hear adults talk about what they heard on the radio. Maybe radio is going to have a revival?

Personally I havent watched TV in over 4 months, not even casually, by accident. I haven't owned a TV in more than 6 years.

Wait times

[od05]

Instead of channels instantly changing it's going to be *buffering* for a couple of seconds every channel I flip. No thanks.

Yup

[matthew.thompson]

I've been using TVoIP for a year an a half now.

I get Video on Demand, Radio, Broadcast TV and Internet over the ADSL with 2Mbps Internet while watching TV and 5Mbp while it's off (8Mbps is possible on the best lines right now)

All this and free off-peak and weekend calls and lower line rental from http://www.homechoice.co.uk/

But it's not that popular yet - the monopolistic Murdoch satellite provider we're stuck with wont flog the channels people want to Homechoice so the channels we can get are fairly limited. The only reason I have it is because I'd have to pay £220 for the first year and £80 a year after that for the priviledge of renting a satellite feed as I'm in a condo and cable haven't gone down our road yet.

IPTV is frightening Sky so they're buying into it big time right now.

WOW, there is nothing but shite on TV isn't there.

[Shivetya]

Hate to break it to ya but this line is nearly as old as TV itself.

There is never anything on TV to watch but many will still watch something anyway. Face it, people like to complain but do nothing about it. They will still turn the same old shite on and just be content to bitch about it.

With hundreds of channels there is bound to be something on that is appealing enough to prevent most from turning the set off. With video on demand services and TIVO devices there are even more opportunities for TV to be part of people's lives.

The only way TV is going away is when we manage to convince people to call it something else. It will still have nothing for us to watch or do that we "want" to watch or do but we still will.

go figure

I've had this for a few years

[Colin-W-Holywell]

This is old news to Canadians. I have had IPTV for a few years now and I like it. It is more than just TV it's got video on demand, internet, email and games. Other nice thing are interactive weather forecasts and local news. And there is no "buffering". The only thing that is annoying is that the menus load kind of like a website. All the text appears and the graphics follow a few seconds later. My provider Sasktel came and installed a free wireless router and wired every room with CAT5 jacks for free. What more could you ask for?

Coming at ya like a (slow) freight train ...

[notpaul]

Without taking the time to elaborate on all of the parameters (this is a complex situation and it's too early in the AM here ...) all folks really need to know is that "broadband TV" is coming, and it is a *VERY* good thing.

The confluence of technology development, trends in the entertainment industry (all kinds of trends: economic, demographic, etc.), government & regulatory evolution, and other forces are (admittedly) slowly but surely creating a vacuum that can only be filled by a "fourth provider" of television service. (In addition to OTA (over-the-air), DBS (direct-broadcast satellite), and cable.)

The cable television industry shares a good portion of the blame (or credit) for this situation, which will ultimately dig the grave for much of their own profits. Their stranglehold on most "in-home" entertainment - including the WWW - coupled with their buccaneer behavior trying to eat the telco's lunch (with IP phone service) have brought competitors out of the woodwork. And some of these competitors (like SBC/AT&T) come to play. Add to the mix the upward-spiraling cost of cable TV, and you have what business-people like to call "low-hanging fruit."

Before y'all get started ... OF COURSE there are bugs in the current crop of offerings ... none of it is going to seriously damage the cablecos bottom-line ... YET. But you don't have to be Warren Buffett to see indicators are appearing like the hand writing on the wall. The stage of the game where small innovators test the market (Akimbo, etc.) has already past. The big boys with lots of cash are now wading into the pool. The train has left the station. Need a few more metaphors?

And of course, this is all "A Good Thing" (TM) because it will mean a good ol' fashioned PRICE WAR. How long since we've seen *that* happen in TV? Ever? When AT&T (or some other player with deep pockets) steps up to offer a viable TV service for $19.95 a month (a permanent, not a "promotional" price) ... or bundled services (voice/data/TV) for $49.95 a month ... you will hear the cableco executives screaming halfway around the globe. Yippee!

One more prediction: Watch for a la carte TV to become a reality in the next 2-3 years. The reason being that as all of this competition heats up, networks (think Turner or Discovery) will start to wake-up to the fact that there is a niche of viewers out there who would like to pay them directly for delivery of a reasonable-quality stream over the broadband connection they already have ... and that they can deliver that product without giving the cable company (or the telco) a sniff of the fee. The status quo of the recent (and distant) past created a detente where no one was willing to cross this line. We are about to enter a "wild and wooly" phase wherein all bets are off.

Okay ... enough rambling ... I'm off to refill my coffee cup.

Great, now they can see what I watch

[Anonymous Coward]

With IPTV, it will be possible for the cable companies to log exactly what channels I watch when. What about privacy?