IPTV Home Networking Strategies
Quarterly Technology & Content Report - February 2008
Published by MRG, Inc.
February 2008, 67 pages
Hard Copy Print Edition $1,995 USD
PDF Single-Departmental License $2,995 USD
PDF Corporate-Wide License Contact Rob Smith for Quote
The report is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service
California orders please add 9.25% sales tax
To order click here or contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com
Executive Summary
The goal of this Home Networking Installation Survey was to determine IPTV installation times for the top 60 Operators in Asia, Europe and North America; and to determine best practices to achieve shorter installation times while maintaining high quality of service (QoS). We created a survey and sent it out via e-mail and contacted IPTV Operators by telephone in order to help us get accurate data.
We received complete responses from 13 Operators — 6 from North America, 3 from Asia (*1) and 4 from Europe with samplings coming from the fastest growing IPTV markets in the world. Responding IPTV Operators represented 4.85 million subscribers, or about 35% of the global subscriber base, making this survey to be statistically representative of that market.
Overall, the average total installation time for all respondents was 3.79 person-hours for installation from curb to the 3rd set-top box. For a one set-top home, the average total installation time was 2.25 person-hours. Each set-top box after the first added less than an hour to the total installation time. Other findings:
- North America had the highest overall total average installation times: 5.16 person-hours.
- Europe had the lowest average installation times: 2.87 person-hours.
- 34% of respondents reported using HomePNA as their home networking technology, the most popular answer.
- Of all the home networking technologies, the combination of HomePlug (powerline) and Ruckus (Wi-Fi) had the lowest total average installation time: 3.35 person-hours.(*2)
- HomePNA had the highest overall average installation times: 4.47 person-hours.
- Many Operators are using a combination of two networking technologies.
IPTV Operators were also asked for their best practices on reducing IPTV installation times and improving quality. The top three most frequently mentioned items were: 1) Using Standard Methods and Procedures, 2) Training and Assigning Proper Technicians and 3) Review the Customers Installation Before Leaving.
Figure 1-1:Average Installation Times – Global

Footnotes:
1) Technically the results of 2 parallel operations were included which are being counted as one.
2) Both HomePlug and UPA are powerline technologies. However, only respondents which HomePlug technology responded to this survey. HomePlug/Ruckus indicates using a combination of HomePlug and Ruckus (Wi-Fi) networks.
This report is part of the IPTV Tracking Service published by the Multimedia Research Group, Inc.
Table of Contents
| 1 |
Quick Summary - Home Installation Times |
| |
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| 2 |
Background - Typical IPTV Home Network |
| 2.1 |
Options for Home Networking |
| |
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| 3 |
Home Networking Technologies - Review & Overview |
| 3.1 |
HomePNA |
| 3.1.1 |
Advantages of HomePNA |
| 3.1.2 |
Disadvantages of HomePNA |
| 3.2 |
Powerline Networking |
| 3.2.1 |
HomePlug AV |
| 3.2.2 |
Universal Powerline Association (UPA) |
| 3.2.3 |
Advantages of Using Powerline Networking |
| 3.2.4 |
Disadvantages of Using Powerline Networks |
| 3.3 |
MoCA |
| 3.3.1 |
Advantages of MoCA |
| 3.3.2 |
Disadvantages of MoCA |
| 3.4 |
Ethernet/Cat-5 |
| 3.5 |
Wireless – 802.11n and Ruckus Wireless |
| 3.6 |
Owning the Home |
| 3.7 |
Home IPTV Installation |
| 3.8 |
Home Gateway Standards Efforts |
| 3.9 |
Consumer Electronics and PC Networking |
| 3.9.1 |
DLNA |
| 3.9.2 |
High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) |
| |
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| 4 |
Opportunities, Risks, and Recommendations |
| 4.1 |
Opportunities for IPTV Operators |
| 4.2 |
Risks for IPTV Operators |
| 4.3 |
Recommendations for IPTV Operators |
| |
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| 5 |
Reducing IPTV Home Installation Times - Background |
| 5.1 |
Advantages of Low Installation Times for Consumers |
| 5.2 |
Advantages of Low Installation Times for Operators |
| |
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| 6 |
Results of Survey on IPTV Installation Time & Best Practices |
| |
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| 7 |
IPTV Installation Survey Results |
| 7.1 |
Average Installation Time for All Respondents |
| 7.2 |
Total Installation Times By Operator |
| 7.3 |
Installation Times By Region |
| 7.3.1 |
Why Install Times Are Shorter in Europe and Asia |
| 7.3.2 |
Why North America Has Longer Install Times |
| 7.4 |
Average Installation Times Graphs By Region |
| 7.5 |
Installation Times By Home Networking Technology |
| |
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| 8 |
Best Practices for Reducing Installation Times |
| 8.1 |
Top 10 Best Practices |
| |
|
| 9 |
Limitations |
| |
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| 10 |
Other Resources for IPTV Installation Times |
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| 11 |
Appendix 1: Glossary |
| |
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Table of Figures
| Figure 1-1: |
Average Installation Times - Global |
| Figure 2-1: |
Typical Home Network (Near Term) |
| Figure 3-1: |
TR-069 Auto Configuration Architecture |
| Figure 3-2: |
DLNA Architecture |
| Figure 3-3: |
The Building Blocks of DLNA |
| Figure 3-4: |
HANA’s AV Network |
| Figure 3-5: |
Sample Screenshot of HANA Interface |
| Figure 7-1: |
Home Networking Technology
by Actual Response |
| Figure 7-2: |
Home Networking Technology by Each Technology |
| Figure 7-3: |
Overall Average Installation Times (Global) |
| Figure 7-4: |
Total Installation Times By Operator
(Person-Hours) |
| Figure 7-5: |
Average Installation Time - North America |
| Figure 7-6: |
Average Installation Time - Europe |
| Figure 7-7: |
Average Installation Time - Asia |
| Figure 7-8: |
Average Installation Time - HomePlug/Ruckus |
| Figure 7-9: |
Average Installation Time - HomePNA |
| Figure 7-10: |
Average Installation Time - HomePlug |
| Figure 7-11: |
Average Installation Time - Cat-5 |
| Figure 7-12: |
Average Installation Time - HomePNA/Cat-5 |
| Figure 7-13: |
Average Installation Time - MoCA |
| Figure 7-14: |
Average Installation Time - Ruckus/Cat-5 |
Table of Tables
| Table 2-1: |
Home Network Types - Summary |
| Table 3-1: |
Selected List of IPTV Operators Using HomePNA |
| Table 3-2: |
Selected List of IPTV Operators Using HomePlug |
| Table 3-3: |
Selected List of IPTV Operators Using UPA |
| Table 3-4: |
Selected List of IPTV Operators Using Ruckus Wireless |
| Table 3-5: |
DLNA – Advantages & Disadvantages |
| Table 3-6: |
HANA – Advantages & Disadvantages |
| Table 7-1: |
Type of Home Networking Technology – Specific Answers |
| Table 7-2: |
Type of Home Networking Technology – Each Specific Technology |
| Table 7-3: |
Average Person-Hours By Installation - All Respondents |
| Table 7-4: |
Average Installation Time By Region |
| Table 7-5: |
Average Installation Time By Home Networking Technology |
| Table 8-1: |
Best Practices - Details |
IPTV Home Networking Strategies — February 2008 is 67 pages and is available in a printed English language edition for $1,995 USD, a PDF single-departmental license for $2,995 USD, and is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service.
For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 1-408-453-5553
or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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