2008
2007
MRG's Global IPTV Market Leaders Report Reflects Market Resilience
San Jose , CA: April 2, 2008—MRG Inc. announces new leaders in the Global IPTV Market Leaders Report -- March 2008, which tracks the top 120 IPTV vendors in 24 regional sub-segments based on the installed base of 6 video systems products in over 650 IPTV Operations. Surprisingly, continued growth of orders and deployments are defying the global credit crisis as reflected by increased deployments of IPTV products in Europe, Asia, Rest of World, and even in North America.
The new global leaders in each of the 6 product segments are Motorola, Alcatel-Lucent, SeaChange and Verimatrix, with 2 each for Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent. While the global market leadership has under 20% change since the last report in September 2007, more shifts and changes are occurring within the regional segments, as companies refine their strategies and/or absorb other companies. "The jockeying within the regional segments reflects a refinement of the regional marketing and product strategies of each of over 120 ranked companies," says Gary Schultz, MRG President. "Partnerships are deepening and companies are developing more niche products appropriate to local needs, which drives
local growth."
"Even though the IPTV market is still small by comparison with cable and satellite, the market for goods and services is stabilizing," states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG. "The majority of Tier-1 Service Providers around the world have already made their main supply choices for access ports, set-top boxes, Video-on-Demand systems and other products, and are now securing second or third sources. The vendors that haven't locked in very many Tier-1 customers have diminishing options for growth."
This report provides unmatched granularity in the IPTV market niches and nuances that really count the most. The positioning and strategies within the regional sectors is where most companies are targeting their energies, using this report as a navigation tool in an increasingly crowded market. Other regionally-ranked Number-One companies include NEC, TANDBERG, Harmonic, Thomson, Yuxing, Cascade, Sagem, Tellabs, Nokia Siemens Networks, BitBand, Amino, and NDS.
More details are available at: www.mrgco.com/TOC_IPTV_MLR0308.html Or, contact Rob Smith at MRG, rsmith@mrgco.com, or, telephone 1-408-453-5553 (San Jose, CA, USA). The price of this 73-page (indexed) report is $3,995 USD for a printed copy, and $5,200 USD for a PDF format Departmental License. It is free for subscribers to the IPTV Tracking Service.
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MRG's New IPTV Report Dissects Monitoring
and Management Market for QoS and QoE
London, UK—11 March, 2008—MRG’s Monitoring and Managing QoS/QoE for IPTV Report helps simplify the pursuit of Video Quality, Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) as they relate to the design and operation of IPTV services. Created primarily for IPTV Operators, Technical Specialists and Test/Monitoring & Management (TM&M) Executives, this report goes far beyond what has been traditionally covered in Video Quality of Service Analyses.
“This report offers insightful and thoughtful methods to exploit the natural advantages of IP in ways that can be seen and appreciated by the customer,” says Steve Hawley, MRG Analyst and author. “It addresses the main pressure-points and data hand-offs that make up the majority of QoS and QoE problems.”
Based on analysis of best practices of over 30 vendors and Service Providers, the report illustrates how Operators are actually using TM&M to improve customer retention and scale quickly to new subscriber bases. “Even a small TM&M budget of $3-$6 per sub per year is likely to return many times that investment in customer retention,” states Gary Schultz, MRG’s President.
Other key findings include:
- Pre-deployment testing is one of the best investments an IPTV Operator can make at any time, because it helps anticipate new pressure-points due to added services and subscriber usage.
- It’s best to design your testing system architecture on one of four levels of service covered in this report—Basic, Intermediate, Advanced or Converged, keeping in mind how the system will change over the next 3-5 years.
- QoS and QoE measurements roughly match the OSI Layers; for example, QoE actually is achieved both through objective and subjective measurements, with objective measurements done in OSI Layers 4-7.
Included are best-practices profiles of France Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and Consolidated-Communications; and vendor profiles of Agilent, Ineoquest, Ixia, Shenick, Spirent, Symmetricom, Tektronix and many others; products are broken into Pre-deployment and Post-deployment stages, and into (location) categories of Headend, Network, Home/CPE, and Portable/Handheld.
The 252-page report, Monitoring & Managing QoS/QoE for IPTV-January 2008, is available for $2,995.00 USD (printed); or $3995.00 USD (PDF single-departmental license); or is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report or a Corporate License contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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Control of IPTV Home Network Improves OpEx & Future Revenue Opportunities
MRG's Report Describes Next Battlefield for Dominance
San Jose, CA—March 3, 2008— A new report from MRG, IPTV Home Networking Strategies, 2008, explores the strategic importance of the Home Network for IPTV Operators. It reveals how effective Home Networking (HN) strategies can improve the competitiveness of an IPTV Operator against Cable and Satellite, reposition the IPTV Operator in the growing battle against the PC and CE (consumer electronics) industries, and can reduce operational expenses (OpEx) through use of best-practices for installing and managing the Home Network. By improving their monitoring and management of the Home Network, IPTV Operators can position themselves for future converged services while reducing OpEx today.
“Winning at the IPTV Home Network game requires a three-prong strategy,” states Jose Alvear, IPTV Analyst at MRG. “Operators need a flexible approach to the physical network in the home along with strong commitment to managing the Home Network and using it as a platform for delivering a rich set of services.”
By examining the HN standards used by the top Operators, the report suggests various strategies and architectures for interconnecting both AV (Audio-Visual) and PC devices in the home, while reducing OpEx and improving opportunities for each strategy.
The report also reviews the results of a survey sent to the top 60 (global) IPTV Operators about home installation best-practices and methods for driving down OpEx. Survey results show that installation times for single- and multiple-TV set households vary significantly across various networking technologies, and across various geographical locations. Also, described are best-practices for cost-cutting, effective training, effective staffing, equipping and management of home installation teams that can have major impact on OpEx.
While there is strong interest in the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard and powerline, no single approach has become dominant; but trends are beginning to emerge. Organizations interviewed include major IPTV Operators, CEA, Cisco/SA, CopperGate, DLNA, DSL Forum, DS2, DVB, Entropic, HANA, HomePlug Powerline Alliance, HomePNA, Intel, MoCA, Ruckus, Siemens, Texas Instruments, UPnP and others.
The 67-page IPTV Home Networking Strategies Report, February 2008 is available in a printed version for $1,995US, as a PDF departmental license for $2995US, and is free as part of the IPTV Tracking Service. To order this report or for more information, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com (408-453-5553).
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IPTV Test & Measurement Report Demystifies
Global IPTV Quality Operations
San Jose, CA—January 7, 2008— MRG’s new IPTV Test, Measurement & Monitoring (TM&M) Report helps simplify the pursuit of Video Quality, Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) as they relate to the design and operation of IPTV services. Created primarily for IPTV Operators, Technical Specialists and TM&M Vendors, this report goes far beyond what has been traditionally covered in Video Quality Control, Quality Assurance and Quality of Experience.
“This report offers smart and thoughtful methods to exploit the natural advantages of IP in ways that can be seen and appreciated by the customer,” says Steve Hawley, MRG Analyst and author. “It addresses the main pressure-points and data hand-offs that make up the majority of QoS and QoE problems.”
Based on analysis of best practices of over 30 vendors and service providers, the report illustrates how Operators are actually using TM&M to improve customer retention and scale quickly to new subscriber bases. “Even a small TM&M budget of $3-$6 per sub per year is likely to return many times that investment in customer retention or added revenues,” states Gary Schultz, MRG’s CEO.
Other key findings include:
- Pre-deployment testing is one of the best investments an IPTV Operator can make at any time, because it helps anticipate new pressure-points due to added services and subscriber usage.
- It’s best to design your testing system architecture on one of four levels of service covered in this report—Basic, Intermediate, Advanced or Converged, keeping in mind how the system will change over the next 3-5 years.
- QoS and QoE measurements roughly match the OSI Layers; for example, QoE actually is achieved both through objective and subjective measurements, with objective measurements done in OSI Layers 4-7.
Included are best-practices profiles of France Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and Consolidated-Communications; and vendor profiles of Agilent, Ineoquest, Ixia, Shenick, Spirent, Symmetricom, Tektronix and many others; products are broken into Pre-deployment and Post-deployment stages, and into (location) categories of Headend, Network, Home/CPE, and Portable/Handheld.
The (252-page) IPTV Test, Measurement & Monitoring—January 2008 report is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; as a Single-Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report or a Corporate License contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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IPTV Global Forecast from 2007-2011 for October Shows More Strength in Market
San Jose, CA—November 12, 2007 — MRG’s new bi-annual IPTV Forecast finds that Europe still leads the world market, while Asia and the “Rest-of-World” see emerging markets like China, Eastern Europe, Korea and Russia taking larger steps to growth. North America sees steady growth by independents, and accelerated growth by the large Telcos.
Growth for IPTV Subs projected from 13.5 million in 2007 to 72.6 million in 2011, roughly a 40% compounded annual growth rate. With an emphasis on profitability, improved operations and sustained growth, large European carriers are planning for future converged services still over 18 months away.
According to Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG, "We've substantially increased our global subscriber forecast for 2011, from 63.6 million in the April 2007 Forecast to 72.6 million now, in large part because we're considerably more optimistic about the probability for market success in China, India and Korea. We slightly decreased our subscriber forecast for 2007, from 14.3 million to 13.5 million, but paradoxically, our forecast for total system revenues went up, from $2.1 billion to $2.5 billion."
"Europe will remain the number one IPTV market in terms of subscriber count through 2011, but Asia is catching up quickly and will most likely surpass Europe in 2012-2013,” said Feldman. “In North America, Verizon and AT&T are growing considerably faster than we previously forecasted, and we expect Verizon to be the world's largest IPTV service provider in 2011."
Technologically, MPEG-4/AVC is consistently replacing MPEG-2 in new installation, as MPEG-2 ceases to be sold even in cost-sensitive markets like China or Eastern Europe. Although DSL continues as the dominant last-mile technology, FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) is beginning to show more traction in both new and established neighborhoods.
Some increase in systems revenue also occurred in the Content-Protection/ DRM sector, where our revised market model. Since Content-Protection can include multiple components ranging from Conditional Access to more newly developed Watermarking and Fingerprinting, this sector should continue showing upside potential as security applies to multiple home devices and formats.
The (79-page) IPTV Global Forecast Report—October 2007 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report or a Corporate License contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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MRG Releases September 2007 Global IPTV Market Leaders Report
San Jose, CA—Nobember 10, 2007 — MRG, Inc announces the IPTV Market Leaders Report-- September 2007, which tracks the top 120 IPTV vendors in 24 regional sub-sectors based on their installed base for 6 product areas in over 600 IPTV Operations and 8 million subscribers worldwide.
“It’s far too early to call the IPTV market ‘mature,’” says Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG, “but the industry is definitely becoming less volatile. In our last February ’07 Report, 50% of the Number-One companies changed; but in this one, less than 20% of the Number-Ones changed.” Yet, some volatility continues due to large increases in subscriptions (as seen at Verzion, France Telecom, Neuf Cegetel, Belgacom and Telefónica), and growing influence of Chinese vendors like Huawei, ZTE, and UTStarcom.
Another important shift is Alcatel-Lucent’s Number One global position in Middleware which is based on its own (non-Microsoft) Middleware products. First-place industry leaders are expanding their lead, as illustrated by large companies like Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent.
Yet, there is room for small companies in most product areas, due to large regional and local variations in market demands, as illustrated by small companies such as Verimatrix and Kasenna, each of them global leaders. The report also anticipates growth potential that can be very important to small companies with installations in high-growth operations like China Netcom or Belgacom.
The Number-One companies for top share-of-market in the six global IPTV categories are:
Access: Alcatel-Lucent
Video Headend: Motorola
Middleware: Alcatel-Lucent
Video-On-Demand: Kasenna
Set-top Boxes: Motorola
Content Protection/ Digital Rights Management: Verimatrix
“This report provides unmatched granularity in the market niches and nuances that really count the most. The positioning and strategies within the regional sectors is where most companies are targeting their energies,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “This report is a superb navigation tool for smart companies in a crowded market.”
For a complete listing of the top companies in each of the 24 sub-sectors, see this link: http://www.mrgco.com/TOC_IPTV_MLR0907.html
For more information about the report or to order a Corporte License, contact Rob Smith at MRG, rsmith@mrgco.com. Or, telephone 1-408-453-5553 (San Jose, CA, USA). The price of this 71-page (indexed) report is $3,995 USD for a printed copy, and $5,200 USD for a PDF format Departmental License. It is free for subscribers to the IPTV Tracking Service.
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Internet Video for IPTV Service Providers
San Jose, CA—September 24, 2007 — IPTV operators of managed networks everywhere are wondering how best to deal with (best-effort) Internet Video services that may eventually become either partners or competitors. The new “Internet Video Report for IPTV Service Providers” from MRG investigates how IPTV can leverage both professionally-developed and user-generated video content to reduce churn and generate revenue.
“We’ve found that using Internet Video is a tremendous opportunity if it’s tailored around the IPTV operator’s local market,” states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG, Inc. “Internet Video, if brought onto a managed network with superb search and display, can be a significant added-value for the IPTV operator.”
Since one of the key disadvantages about Internet Video like YouTube is its low production quality or content quality, an IPTV operator can offer richer and more personalized or localized versions on a managed network that shows strikingly better visuals and content quality.
Featured in the report are over 90 content and technology companies ranging from “top-down” Internet services like Joost and Babelgum; to “bottom-up” companies like YouTube, Metacafe and Dabble. The report also examines roles played by large media companies like BBC, Fox, CNBC, and Comcast, as well as powerful portal development & video hosting companies like thePlatform, The FeedRoom, and Maven Networks.
“This is the first IPTV report outlining Internet Video strategy scenarios for IPTV operators,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “This report takes on the unique task of integrating the dynamics of Internet Video with the unique quality and two-way delivery capabilities of IPTV.”
The report also shows examples of how a combination of user-generated and professional video content can be integrated into a multi-channel service, such as the case study of Current TV shown in Europe and the U.S.
“IPTV Operators will need to seize Internet Video as a opportunity,” says Len Feldman. “Doing this reflects and anticipates the deeper changes going on in all digital media that cannot be stopped.”
The 134-page report, Internet Video for IPTV Service Providers — September 2007, is available for $2,995.00 USD (printed); or $3,495.00 USD (PDF single-departmental); or is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For information or to order the report or a Corporate License, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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MRG Releases IPTV Middleware Report
Identifying Leaders in Global Race
Microsoft's Proprietary Approach Struggles
as Best-of-Breed Apprach Succeeds
San Jose, CA: July 16, 2007—The continued growth of the global IPTV industry, specifically in Europe, Asia and North America, hinges upon the misunderstood “Middleware” that glues together the many working parts of the IPTV end-to-end system. “Without flexible middleware that can easily and predictably increase the number of subscribers and the breadth of services, IPTV operators will not sustain long-term growth or stability,” states Steve Hawley, MRG Sr. Analyst. “Middleware can make or break the success of an IPTV service.”
Although “fast channel change” is discussed, it is only one of many issues reviewed in this definitive report. “Growing their IPTV services from the basic stage, through intermediate, advanced and eventually, the “converged” stage (where video, wireless and wireline services are all integrated) is what IPTV operators really need to accomplish---all within carefully defined bandwidth and financial budgets, “ states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG. “This report shows how to accomplish this either with existing or new middleware.”
Based on actual deployed subscribers, Thomson, Cascade, Alcatel-Lucent (MiViewTV), UTStarcom and Nokia Siemens Networks (Myrio) ranked in the top five globally. Microsoft Mediaroom (ex-IPTV Edition) ranked last out of fourteen IPTV companies, indicating continued scaling problems with its middleware using Microsoft-required technologies. The report objectively guides IPTV operators through the platform capabilities and technical considerations to help them identify the middleware best matching their service requirements, by comparing the partnerships, feature-function support, and the number of servers required for supporting 30,000, 300,000, 1 million and more subscribers for the fourteen vendors. Also included are detailed profiles of these vendors, their products and middleware partnerships, and a case study of how Verizon switched its middleware supplier for its IPTV/RF hybrid-service.
“The middleware required to support basic IPTV services is very different from that of an advanced-level service,” states Hawley. “MRG’s study will help IPTV operators of any size to make the right middleware decisions.“
The 344-page report, IPTV Middleware Ranking Report: Rapid Scaling of Subscribers & Services—June 2007, is available for $2,995.00 USD (printed); or $3,495.00 USD (PDF single-departmental); or is available free as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For information or to order the report or a Corporate License, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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Over 240 Million TV-Enabled Handsets and Over $2.9 Billion
of Infrastructure Equipment To Be Sold By 2011
MRG Releases In-Depth Analysis of Global Mobile TV Markets
and the Standards that Drive Them
Las Vegas, NV: April 16, 2007—MRG, Inc. announces a sweeping new Mobile TV Market analysis and forecast that provides a ground-up analysis of over 70 trials and deployments, using both the better-known DVB-H and MediaFLO technologies and other technologies like DVB-S, 3G, DAB IP, T-DMB, S-DMB and WiMAX. The report spans over 55 countries and 5 major regions, and is designed for investors, operators, vendors and content owners who need to grasp the rate and scope of growth for both Mobile TV services and supporting infrastructure and handsets.
Additionally, the report discusses viable business models used, including (traditional) local advertising, subscription models, long-form and short-form linear and on-demand content, addressable advertising and others. “This is the guide-book that every vendor, integrator and Mobile TV operator wants to have close by during planning, trial and execution,” says Peter White, author and Sr. MRG Analyst. “Cellular companies, broadcasters and content owners have everything to win if they cooperate on a market-by-market basis as found in the study of successful deployments.”
“No other report forecasts the Mobile TV infrastructure market from the ground-up, as this one does,” states Gary Schultz, President, MRG. “Because of the local variables like which spectrum is used, the local terrestrial and building topography, and local penetration and replacement rate of handsets, this report clarifies big issues that will assist vendors in targeting new local and regional opportunities.”
These 70 trials and deployments, along with the results of consumer surveys, illustrate that Mobile TV is driven by people wanting to liven up small and boring spots in their everyday life with a drama, news program or sports programs that they care about. The report also shows how the drivers of these markets will be similar to home-based TV watching, plus special event programming like sports and large music concerts.
The (175-page) Mobile TV: Global Standards Review & Forecast for Infrastructure and Handsets—2007-20111 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; or as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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New MRG IPTV Global Forecasts
14.3 Million Subscribers in 2007 and 63.6 Million in 2011
Microsoft Middleware Users Experience Continued Delays–Again
Las Vegas, NV: April 16, 2007—The steady growth of IPTV subscribers and service revenue continues on an upward trend in Europe and Asia and, to some extent, in North America, according to the new MRG report IPTV Global Forecast Report—April 2007.
Driving the market’s successful growth in the past 6 months is fast growth in Europe, especially France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Eastern Europe; in Asia, especially China, Japan, and Hong Kong; and in North America, especially Verizon, the IOCs (Independent Operating Companies) and Canada. “Our forecast shows service provider revenue growing from $3.6 billion in 2007 to $20.3 billion in 2011,” states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG. “Europe continues to be the biggest market for IPTV, with France easily leading the growth spurt through IPTV operators Free, Orange France Telecom and Neuf Cegetel.”
“Success is also driven by seasoned operators who have mastered critical competitive operations like continuous quality improvement and content negotiations,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “By mastering these challenges, the experienced operators are successfully differentiating themselves and moving into sustained growth periods.”
The underachieving operators continue to be those, like AT&T and Deutsche Telecom, who rely on Microsoft’s beleaguered middleware that has been “architecturally challenged” with its inability to scale. The report conjectures that further delays at AT&T will result in replacement of the MS middleware by mid-to-late 2007. However, the lack of MPEG-4/AVC set-top box chips, which was causing a drag on the market in late 2006, has been resolved, and should result in a continued uptake through 2007.
Tracking over 570 total IPTV operators worldwide, the report analyzes capital spending by four regions and by seven IPTV product sectors, including Access, Video Headends, VOD, Content-Protection, Middleware, Set-top Boxes and System-Integration. The report also includes capital spending detail of the top 25 global service providers.
The (74-page) IPTV Global Forecast Report—April 2007 is available in printed format for $3,995.00 US; as a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00 US; and is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-453-5553 or rsmith@mrgco.com.
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MRG Releases Winners in Global IPTV Market Leader Report
Competitive Race Continues for "Best of Breed" Status by Sector and Region
Sunnyvale, CA: April 12, 2007—MRG, Inc has released the names of the first place companies in its new IPTV Market Leader Report for March 2007, which tracks the top IPTV vendors in 24 sub-sectors (six each for four geographical regions) based on their deployments and installed base in over 570 IPTV Service Providers (SPs) worldwide. The report demonstrates the extreme volatility in the IPTV industry, with half the number one market leaders changing position since the previous report. “The greatest volatility was in Video-On-Demand, where all but one of the number ones changed,” states Len Feldman, IPTV Analysis Director. “The least volatility was in Video Headends, where not a single number one changed since the last report.”
The causes of some of this volatility include M&As such as that of Alcatel-Lucent; large increases in subscriptions (as seen at Verzion, France Telecom and Telefonica); and commercialization of in-house software, as seen with PCCW's Cascade software. “The report also identifies the top 5-10 companies in each of the six product categories in each of four regions,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “We believe this allows for the best possible granularity with which to understand the competitive picture for each IPTV product and region.” Sectors tracked in each region include Middleware, Video Headends, Set-top Boxes, Content Protection, Access Ports, and Video-On-Demand (VOD) licenses. A total of about 80 competing companies or divisions are ranked. While about 300 of 570 (mostly telco-based) Service Providers examined are US Independent Operators, the biggest share of subscribers come from the European market.
The report also anticipates upside growth potential of each of the top 25-30 vendors in the industry by sector, based on the twenty largest and fastest-growing Service Providers in four global regions in which these vendors have deployed products. Growth prospects can be very important to even a small company with installations in high-growth SPs like China Netcom or Belgacom, even though the vendor itself is small at the moment.
The winners of the first place awards for top share-of market in the six global IPTV categories are:
Access: Alcatel-Lucent
Video Headend: Motorola/ Tut
Middleware: Thomson
Video-On-Demand: Harmonic
Set-top Boxes: Motorola
Content Protection/ Digital Rights Management: Verimatrix
For a complete listing of the top companies in each of 4 global regions, see this link:
www.mrgco.com/TOC_IPTV_MLR0307.html
For more information, contact Grace Moyles, EMEA Business Director, gracem@mrgco.com; John Jackson, Business Director for Asia, North America Markets, john@mrgco.com; or Rob Smith at MRG Headquarters, rsmith@mrgco.com. Or, telephone 1-408-453-5553 (Sunnyvale, CA, USA). The price of this 59-page report is $3,995 USD for a printed copy, and $5,200 USD for a PDF format Departmental License. It is free for subscribers to the IPTV Tracking Service.
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MRG Report
Assesses CATV Infrastructure Upgrade Market
Identifying Cable Strategies to Meet Threat from IPTV & Satellite,
and
Tracking Over
$350 Million Cap-ex for Switched Video and Bandwidth Expansion
February 26, 2007— Sunnyvale, CA—Large U.S. CATV Operators (MSOs) are developing bandwidth-saving strategies to support new services in 2007 to 2010, as a means to anticipate new competition from Satellite, IPTV (or Telco TV) and Internet Video. Using Digital Simulcast, Switched Video, Statmuxing, G-QAM Usage, Reclaiming Analog Channels, and Node-Size Reduction as part of their arsenals, MSOs have already installed testbeds and trial operations as a means to enhance their operational and revenue-generating capabilities. The new report from MRG, “CATV Infrastructure: Assessing Strategies & Forecast” provides in-depth analysis and unit/revenue forecasts for strategic cap-ex outlays anticipated by US MSOs using these and other strategies.
“In lieu of migrating MPEG-4 AVC compression, which can be prohibitively expensive, cable operators are exercising a range of other options to upgrade their MPEG-2 networks,” states Kiran Bellare, MRG Sr. Analyst. “This report identifies which choice is best for improving near-term performance in delivering new services like HD, long-tail, VOD-based advertising and others.”
Among others, switched video has gained a lot of interest over the last year as MSOs try to extend their available bandwidth to offer more content and services. While some MSOs are very aggressive with switched video technical trials, others are primarily focusing on digital simulcasting, node-size reduction and upgraded G-QAMs for improved bandwidth usage. Reclaimed bandwidth, then, is used to enhance HD, long-tail and targeted advertising and interactive services. The report profiles seven US MSO upgrade strategies, including what new services the upgrades will afford, and the cap-ex costs of the various upgrades. It also forecasts overall cost estimates for the critical 3-year period for the entire US market.
“This report will be useful to cable operations and financial executives,” states Len Feldman, MRG’s Director of Analysis. “Strategy and content acquisition executives need to add new services while conserving on capital and operational expenditures.”
The price of this 150 page “CATV Infrastructure: Assessing Strategies & Forecast” report is $1,995.00 USD for a printed
version and $2,295 for a PDF departmental license. For more information about a corporate license or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or at 408-453-5553.
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MRG Releases New IPTV Video QoS and QoE Report
February 12, 2007— Sunnyvale, CA— As IPTV operators confront increased competition from cable and satellite, they are discovering that video quality can be a crucial differentiating factor that attracts and keeps customers. Yet IPTV operators have also found that there are many parts of the systems where video quality and packet-flow can be compromised, causing major impact on consumers’ Quality of Experience (QoE).
The new report from MRG, Inc., ”IPTV Video Quality: QoS and QoE— 2006,” addresses this complexity by focusing on seven “domains of influence” in the video value chain, and by honing in on any one of them to expose the best practices for identifying and solving QoS (Quality of Service) problems. By using quantitative measurements for addressing QoS issues, and subjective/qualitative measurements for QoE, the report provides linkage between both dimensions of quality control.
“This is a seminal work,” states Len Feldman, MRG Director of IPTV Analysis. “It tackles a problem for IPTV that has not previously been approached; and it brings a new level of operational simplicity to the complexities of an IPTV ecosystem.” The IPTV domains examined include: Acquisition/ingest, processing, storage, control, distribution, edge, and customer premises. The report also digs deeply into the MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 architectures as a means to demonstrate how packet restoration, fast-channel-change and other issues are accomplished; and at what cost for SDTV (Standard Definition TV), HDTV (High Definition TV), and for shared triple-play services. It also presents both operational and technical tools on how to design, test, operate and monitor a quality-centric IPTV network.
“No other available IPTV report goes into this depth or breadth on video quality,” states Gary Schultz, President, MRG. “This is both a business report and a technical report allowing IPTV operators to gain maximum value from their IPTV system investment from the first day of operation."
Over 20 companies contributed to this report and numerous service providers, including Alcatel-Lucent, Amino, AT&T, Cisco/ Scientific Atlanta, Harmonic, Harris, Modulus, Motorola, Tandberg, Optibase, Siemens/Myrio, Spirient, Thomson, Verimatrix, Widevine, and others.
The 137-page report is available for $1,995.00 USD (printed); or $2,995.00 USD (PDF single-departmental); or is available free as part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report or a Corporate License, contact
Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or at 408-453-5553.
Executive Overview
Table of Contents
Lists of Figures and Tables
Order Form
MRG Expands IPTV Analyst Group
January 5, 2007— Sunnyvale, CA—Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG, Inc) has expanded its coverage of IPTV global market analysis, by adding three professionals to its IPTV analyst team. Continued growth of global IPTV markets in Europe, Asia, North America and Rest of World, has created the need to cover new products, services, technologies, best practices and new deployments.
“This team will add impressive depth, breadth and thought-leadership in this market,” states Gary Schultz, MRG President. “It allows MRG to continue using analysts with deep technical and managerial education, as well as hands-on P&L experience in the video and communications industries.” The new IPTV expansion includes:
- Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis,
- Steve Hawley, Sr. Analyst,
- Jose Alvear, Editor / IPTV Analyst.
Mr. Feldman, in addition to being a Senior Analyst with MRG since 1997, has over 25 years of industry experience, authored two books on Microsoft Windows NT and founded two digital media companies. He will concentrate on global IPTV market drivers, market share analysis, revenue and unit growth of seven IPTV sub-sectors, and the strategic impact of mega-mergers on large and small vendor companies. “This market is unique because of the strong underpinning of internationally accepted standards in IP transmission and MPEG/AVC compression,” he said. “This converged technology, plus the demand for personalized and integrated services, creates a radical new era for distributing video and broadband services.”
Mr. Hawley, Sr. Analyst, will develop new MRG reports focusing on IPTV Content and Technologies. He is Editor of ipTV News Analyst, author of several IPTV global industry reports, and has been panelist or moderator at conferences including IPTV World Forum, NAB and TelcoTV. Mr. Hawley also has been an active IPTV consultant since 2001. Prior to then, he held business development and product management positions at Myrio Corporation, Northern Telecom and Adobe Systems.
Mr. Alvear, as Editor of MRG’s monthly IPTV Bulletin, will cover the entire IPTV industry, including information on mergers, new RFPs, service expansions, strategies, trials, deployments and conference coverage. He was the founding editor of Streaming Media Magazine, wrote the book “Guide to Streaming Multimedia” and has extensive background writing about the Internet and the digital media industry.
Messrs. Feldman, Hawley and Alvear are joining Bob Larribeau and Michelle Kabahit to make up the expanded IPTV team. Mr. Larribeau will continue to take on new IPTV consulting and advisement tasks as the need arises and the market grows. Ms. Kabahit will continue to provide administrative and research support to the IPTV team.
For more information about MRG, Inc., email Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com or contact Rob at 408-453-5553.
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