A View on View :: BT Jumps on Microsoft IP-TV Bandwagon

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BT Jumps on Microsoft IP-TV Bandwagon

by Mark Evans on Tue 28 Jun 2005 02:42 PM EDT | Permanent Link

The folks in Redmond must be happy and relieved after BT decided to enter into a commercial agreement to use Microsoft's IP-TV Edition software. The deal comes on the heels of Telstra deciding not to proceed with an IP-TV trial using Microsoft's software, while Swisscom and SBC have delayed the launch of their commercial services. BT said it will conduct IP-TV trials early next year before launching a full-blown commercial offer in the summer. It is hard not to get the idea the buzz surrounding IP-TV is running ahead of the technology. While Microsoft is working on a key part of the IP-TV equation, it is just one piece of the puzzle that also includes software, hardware, network upgrades, programming and back-office billing and provisioning systems. Until all the pieces come together and carriers can provide a fully-baked service to 100s of thousands of customers, IP-TV will not be ready for prime-time. The problem is the longer carriers wait to get into the TV business, the bigger advantage the cablecos enjoy.
Addendum: It was rightly pointed out to me that many carriers are already offering "Telco TV", including Manitoba Telecom Services, Aliant and Sasktel. None of these carriers use Microsoft software.

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Re: BT Jumps on Microsoft IP-TV Bandwagon

by Anonymous on Tue 28 Jun 2005 03:12 PM EDT | Permanent Link

Until all the pieces come together and carriers can provide a fully-baked service to 100s of thousands of customers, IP-TV will not be ready for prime-time. The problem is the longer carriers wait to get into the TV business, the bigger advantage the cablecos enjoy.

The one thing has nothing to do with the other -- carriers don't need IPTV to do TV.

All over Canada, ILECs are doing TV over VDSL. The straggler is Bell, which has ExpressVu; maybe that's Central CAnadians aren't familiar with it?

Re: BT Jumps on Microsoft IP-TV Bandwagon

by Anonymous on Wed 29 Jun 2005 11:46 PM EDT | Permanent Link

Does IPTV really work well with all the HDTV, Dolby and interactive requirements of new generation Home Theatres? From what I hear it's ok with regular TV but not enough horsepower for the future. Interactive menus apparently have irritating lag. Is there truth to this?

Re: Re: BT Jumps on Microsoft IP-TV Bandwagon

by Mark Evans on Thu 30 Jun 2005 11:46 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

to offer HDTV - particularly more than one channel simultaneously - you will need at least 25mbps, if not more. this explains why verizon is going fiber to the curb, rather than fiber to the node.

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