Press Releases - MRG Multimedia Research Group Inc.

Sunnyvale, CA – November 7, 2005 – A new report by MRG, Inc. analyzes how telecommunications providers will scale their infrastructures to deliver IPTV (IP TV) to their growing subscriber bases. AT&T/SBC, Verizon, France Telecom, Free, and others are expanding their IPTV services, and creating entirely new content delivery models. Network architecture and bandwidth accommodation are two primary considerations – how will these and smaller IPTV service providers scale their networks to handle subscriber growth? How will these service providers leverage IPTV to compete against cable’s sizable installed base for VOD services?

The report shows that by 2009, the number of IPTV networks with over 100,000 subscribers will grow from five to over forty, including eight networks with over one million. The report, “Mega Scale IPTV Networks: How to Create Very Large IPTV Networks”, addresses these critical questions and offers strategic perspectives from hardware, software, and network delivery companies leading the push for IPTV.

“Careful engineering will be key,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. “Distributing IPTV functions to the edge and paying attention to software architecture will clearly facilitate the scaling of IPTV networks.”

The report analyzes key considerations to scaling an IPTV network: content aggregation, type of network used, and bandwidth capacities. It identifies the critical factors that impact scalability throughout the entire IPTV supply chain, from broadcaster, to network delivery, to end-user behavior. It also cites areas for potential cost savings in network deployment and content aggregation, at the set-top box and headend.

“VOD companies with distribution caching functions will be one of the most important links,” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO, “because on-demand viewing behavior will become a major driver of new IPTV services.”

Over 20 companies are profiled, featuring their financial results, core products, and product capabilities. The companies include Alcatel, Siemens, Thales, ECI, Lucent, Motorola, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Harmonic, Skystream Networks, Tut, Bitband, C-Cor, Entone, Kasenna, Orca, Latens, Motive, Nagravision, Widevine, Agilent, IneoQuest, IBM, and Microsoft.

Sunnyvale, CA – October 10, 2005 – Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG, Inc) announces its new semi-annual IPTV (or IP TV) forecast, IPTV Global Forecast 2005 - 2009: September 2005, as part of its IPTV Tracking Service. Projecting growth from 3.7 million subscribers in 2005 to 36.9 million in 2009, the report also forecasts subscriber revenue growth from $880 million to $9.9 billion in 2005-2009.

“IPTV is continuing to push forward in Asia and Europe, as deployments and trials in Japan, China, and India are really starting to show positive impact,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. “The U.S. RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies) are still lagging, due to issues that SBC and BellSouth are facing, waiting for low-cost MPEG-4 set-top boxes and Microsoft’s software, and dealing with the complexity of the system integration required. Progress in Europe is making up most of the difference.”

Based on information from over 270 IPTV carriers worldwide, the report identifies the top carriers in each of four regions (Asia, Europe, North America, and ROW), broken down by seven product/service segments for 2005 to 2009 (Set-top Boxes, Video Headends, VOD Servers, Middleware, Access Equipment, Content Protection and System Integration). “No other report offers 28 discreet IPTV sector analyses plus capital spending profiles of each region’s top carriers” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO. “This forecast provides huge market leveragability to our customers and service subscribers.”

Other regional changes analyzed include:
• Growth of European IPTV leaders, including Free (France), Fastweb (Italy), Belgacom, KPN, and Telekom Austria.
• New Set-top Box pricing assumptions based on MPEG-4 (HD and SD).
• New developments in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong.
• Analysis of Per-Port Access System pricing for four regions and globally.
• Updates on SBC and BellSouth plans to deploy large IPTV networks in the U.S., and Verizon’s use of IPTV for VOD over its fiber network.

A 60+ page report, IPTV Global Forecast 2005 - 2009: September 2005,is available in a printed (English) format for US $3,995.00, a departmental PDF license for US $5,200.00, and is free as part of the year-round IPTV Tracking Service. For a PDF corporate license, or to order this report, contact Rob Smith at rsmith@mrgco.com.

MICROSOFT IS MOVING CLOSER TO DOMINATING THE IPTV CONTENT MANAGEMENT SECTOR, ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT BY MRG

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - September 8, 2005 - Microsoft is moving closer to dominating the IPTV content management sector, according to a new report by MRG. Although broadcast-focused vendors are leading in all areas of IPTV development, the Redmond giant could leverage its DRM (digital rights management), middleware, and VOD (Video on Demand) expertise to command the market.

"Microsoft is poised to dominate the North American IP TV market" states Bob Larribeau, MRG Analyst. "In part, this depends on service providers deploying Microsoft's VOD, content protection and DRM software, in addition to its middleware solutions."

This and other IPTV developments can be found in the just-released "IP TV Market Leaders Report - August 2005", a member publication of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service.

The report also explains how IP TV deployments are creating new opportunities for Lucent, ECI, Huawei, and others to establish strong positions in the broadband access market, due to their ability to support the bandwidth requirements of video services.
It also describes how companies with strong positions in the cable industry, such Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta, ADB, and SeaChange, are now starting to shoulder the IP TV startups aside in the race to serve the large service providers such as SBC, BellSouth, and Verizon.

It also measures the size of the worldwide IP TV Video Headend market through counting deployed channels, thereby providing the best assessment of this industry to date. Deployments by smaller, independent U.S. telcos are dominating this market, helping companies like Tut Systems, Minerva, and Skystream maintain their market positions.

The report ranks the market leaders and emerging companies for all IP TV industry sectors. Firms are ranked within each of the following areas: Access Systems, Video Headend, Video On Demand Server, Set-top Box, Middleware, and Content Protection. All rankings are categorized by region: Asia, Europe, North America, and Rest of World.

IP TV Market Leaders Report-August 2005 is a 37-page report that is available as a departmental printed copy for $3,995.00; a Departmental PDF license for $5,200.00; or a free copy is available as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or rsmith@mrgco.com.

MRG IPTV REPORT ANALYZES LEADING BACK-OFFICE TOOLS, STRATEGIES AND VENDORS - Telcos Making Early Decisions with Far-reaching Impact in Global Markets

Sunnyvale, CA - August 1, 2005 - A new global report on IP TV Back-Office Systems from MRG, Inc, analyzes the five main elements of back-office software that carriers need to deploy IPTV into today's competitive triple-play markets.

As part of MRG's IP TV Tracking Service, the new report provides detailed analysis of successful back-office and middleware strategies. It also describes the back-office strategies of major incumbents including Belgacom, France Telecom, NTT, PCCW, SBC, and Verizon; and major CLECs including FastWeb, Neuf Telecom, Free, and others.

"Winning in the IPTV market requires having a competitive back-office strategy from the beginning," states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. "In this report, we examine pros and cons of the two main strategies-"minimalist" for IPTV-only back-office software, and "transitional" for triple-play back-office software that includes IPTV."

The report, IP TV Back Office Systems: Quarterly Technology & Content Report - July 2005, shows how successful IPTV back office strategies differ in various global markets. "Both carriers and back-office suppliers have to vary their offerings region by region," states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO. "This report is the only one available that covers IPTV back-office operations, strategies, and suppliers on a global basis."

Also included is a unique market leader analysis for each of the 24 back-office companies, broken into three regions (North America, EMEA, and Rest of World) and five application categories. The five applications include IP TV Middleware, Content Management, Service Fulfillment/Assurance, Billing/Customer Care, and System Integration. Profiled companies include Microsoft, Alcatel, IBM, MetaSolv, Siemens, Telcordia and others. Profiles include tabulated details about each company's product offerings, customers, partners and revenues; and real-world insights about deploying new back-office systems.

IP TV Back Office Systems: Quarterly Technology & Content Report - July 2005 is available as a departmental PDF license for $2,995.00; a corporate PDF license for $3,995.00; a printed version for $1,995.00; or a free copy is available as part of MRG's IPTV Tracking Service. This 118-page report was co-produced with OSS Strategies. For more information or to order the report, contact Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or rsmith@mrgco.com, or visit www.mrgco.com.

BIOCHIP MARKET WILL MORE THAN DOUBLE IN GROWTH BY 2009, ACCORDING TO NEW MRG REPORT

Sunnyvale, CA – June 16, 2005 – The total market for biochips currently hovers around $2 billon, but will rise to over $5 billion within five years, based on the progress of new innovations and greater investment. As the push for cell-based research impacts DNA biochips, lab-on-a-chip systems, and related chip technologies, pharmaceutical companies must have a solid understanding of leading-edge chip manufacturers. Partnerships in drug development and R&D are more critical than ever to retain a competitive time-to-market.

This and other projections are found in a new report by MRG (Multimedia Research Group, Inc.) and Fuji-Keizai. The report, "Worldwide Biochips & Equipments Market 2005 Biochips Business Roadmap: Technology Update, Market, Business Trends and Directions", summarizes the current state of the biochip market in all major markets---the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

To better analyze this emerging market, the forecast model breaks down the biochip market into six distinct sectors: DNA Biochips; DNA Biochip-related instruments, services, and software; Lab-on-a-Chip systems; and Protein Biochips. Each sector outline includes a product overview, a listing of competitors within its segment, application development trends, pricing trends, and a market size forecast.

Pharmaceutical companies seeking biochip partnerships to develop new products or lower R&D costs will find this report invaluable, as it reviews the strategies of 29 firms, and includes over 60 figures and tables to illustrate its findings. Profiled firms include Applied Biosystems, Cepheid, Perkin Elmer, Agilent, Affymetrix, Invitrogen, and others.

“Worldwide Biochip & Equipment Market 2005 Biochip Business Roadmap: Technology Update, Market, Business Trends and Directions” is available in printed format (English or Japanese) for $1,195.00 US or as a Departmental PDF license for $1,795.00 US. This 176-page report can be ordered by contacting Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or info@mrgco.com, or by visiting www.mrgco.com/order.html.

IPTV VIDEO HEADEND FORECAST SHOWS SHARP SHIFT IN 2007 TO MPEG4

Sunnyvale, CA — June 3, 2005 — The shift from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 encoding and headend purchases is expected to begin in volume in the 2007 to 2008, meaning prolonged life for MPEG2 in IP TV systems. Moreover, the rise of IP TV content subscribers will drive an equally rapid installed based of IP TV video headends, according to a new report by Multimedia Research Group. Broadband service providers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe have announced or plan to announce deployments of IP TV-based content services, opening up opportunities for all video headend suppliers.

The new report, IP TV Video Headend Global Forecast 2005 – 2008, provides a macro view of the IP TV headend sector. It analyzes and identifies which service providers are leading the push towards IP TV services; where each region stands in the race to IP TV; and how fast subscriptions will grow for IP TV and DSL-based services worldwide. One key forecast is that IP TV subscriber revenue will grow from about $400 million in 2004 to over $6 billion in 2008, meaning a substantial investment in content and infrastructure is fast approaching.

Whether for SBC, Verizon, or BellSouth in the U.S., China Telecom in Asia, or France Telecom or Telefonica in Europe, IP TV video headend suppliers must help service providers compete in increasingly competitive markets. “IP TV vendors, in addition to offering unique and innovative services, have to use new technologies to achieve competitive advantages,’ stated Gary Schultz, MRG principal analyst. “Yet the end-to-end value chain needs to remain price-sensitive to new adopters.”

The report shows how growth rates for IP TV subscriptions, installed headends, and revenues must anticipate the availability and deployment of new chip-sets like MPEG-4 decoders, as well as dual (MPEG-2/MPEG-4) decoders. It also contains subscriber, installed headend and revenue projections for the following markets: IP TV subscribers and revenue, DSL subscribers, MPEG-2 encoders, SD MPEG-4 encoders, and HD MPEG-4 encoders.

IP TV Video Headend Global Forecast 2005 – 2008 is available for $4,495.00 US for a departmental license (PDF format), and $3,995.00 US for a printed (hard copy) version. For a corporate license, contact MRG. This 90-page report can be ordered by contacting Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or rsmith@mrgco.com, or by visiting www.mrgco.com.

NEW MATERIALS R&D SPEEDS ARRIVAL OF ADVANCED
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS

SUNNYVALE, CA – May 18, 2005 – New environmental technologies at the forefront of private and public sector investment is providing a wide range of R&D opportunities. All industrialized nations, and many emerging economies, have made environmentally sound, energy-saving innovations a top priority for planning future growth. As a result, strategies are now underway for creating or utilizing new forms of energy.

The report, New Materials R&D and Commercialization: Current Status and Future Directions – Energy and Environmental Field, reviews the research and commercial viability of new material and material chemistries being developed in the U.S., including nanotechnology-related breakthroughs.

The report also reviews the status of private sector, government, and academic R&D. Solar electrical power, artificial photosynthesis, fuel cells, high energy density batteries, catalysts, pollution sensors, environmental remediation, and chemical recycling are included. This report examines projects in each of these fields, identifying their target applications, target end-user market, time-to-market, project description, and technology being used.

The report overview includes trends and directions, ranking of market size, capital investments, and top-ranking companies by segment, and most-promising technologies by segment.

New Materials R&D and Commercialization: Current Status and Future Directions – Energy and Environmental Field is available in a printed English or Japanese edition for $1,495.00 US. This 181-page report can be ordered by contacting Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or rsmith@mrgco.com or by visiting www.mrgco.com.

NEW REPORT ANALYZES HYDROGEN MARKETS
AND R&D IN US AND EU
Energy Policies Shift as Energy Needs Rise

SUNNYVALE, CA – May 18, 2005 – The current energy policies of the US, EU, and other G-7 nations are now focusing increasingly on alternative energy carriers. Moreover, the growing demand for oil and electricity in emerging economies is also fueling greater investment and R&D opportunities in alternative energy sources.

The new report, 2005 Hydrogen Market, Hydrogen R&D and Commercial Implication in the US and European Union, contains an in-depth survey of the hydrogen sector in both regions. The overall U.S. hydrogen market is estimated at $798.1 million in 2005 and is expected to rise to $1.6 billion in 2010. This report details the current hydrogen industry structure; and various pathways for hydrogen production, distribution and storage. This includes discussion of SMR (steam methane reforming), electrolysis, auto thermal reforming, coal gasification, and other production methodologies.

Providing an overview of U.S. research activities, the report covers developments within the private sector, government laboratories, and university research. It also identifies US and European commercial organizations active in hydrogen technology research.

Also in this report are market development scenarios for the next 15 years and beyond, and the application trends of portable, micro, transportation, residential, industrial and distributed generation systems.

2005 Hydrogen Market, Hydrogen R&D and Commercial Implication in the US and European Union is available in a printed English or Japanese edition for $995.00 US. This 111-page report can be ordered by contacting Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or rsmith@mrgco.com or by visiting www.mrgco.com.

NEW REPORT TRACKS EMERGING EUROPEAN UNION WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY AND MARKETS
Applications Span Genetics Research to Manufacturing

SUNNYVALE, CA – May 18, 2005 – A new report on the European Union’s wireless sensor networking (WSN) market delivers valuable insight into this new area of innovation. Devised from interviews and analyses of WSN firms throughout Europe, the report provides a detailed look at research and development efforts underway at universities and industrial laboratories.

European Union Wireless Sensing Networks: R&D and Commercialization Activities, a new report from Fuji-Keizai USA and Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG), is now available for purchase. This overview of WSN begins with an analysis of the current European market, the commercial products, private sector and academic research on WSN, and recommendations for Japanese semiconductor firms.

Each corporate profile of 29 key companies includes the specific category of expertise, key products, and recent partnership and R&D activities. Together, the profiles provide a comprehensive overview of many of WSN’s key vendors, and where they fit in the WSN supply chain. Semiconductor, module, solutions and end-user vendors are found here, as well as systems integrators and software providers for WSN.

Case studies include use of WSN in the following areas: healthcare, preventative care and genetic research; industrial, production and equipment monitoring; environmental monitoring, home and commercial property monitoring, and automobile/transportation monitoring.

European Union Wireless Sensing Networks: R&D and Commercialization Activities is available in a printed English or Japanese edition for $1,495.00 US. This 145-page report can be ordered by contacting Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or
rsmith@mrgco.com or by visiting www.mrgco.com

New MRG IPTV Report Tracks Shift in Worldwide Content Provider Strategies

Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS — May 10, 2005 — At the Telecom Video 2005 show in Amsterdam this week, MRG is announcing a new installment of its IPTV Tracking Service series, IPTV Content Strategies – May 2005. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of IPTV (IP TV) content deployment strategies in four major global markets. It reveals how international and local content developers, aggregators, and consultants are assisting IPTV service providers in the design and deployment of linear video, video-on-demand (VOD), and interactive services.

“IPTV services cannot simply mimic cable or satellite to be successful,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. “Service providers have to offer different and better choices to succeed against cable or satellite.” On the way out is “forced buy-through,” which requires consumers to subscribe up to 80 “basic” channels before accessing premium channels; and on the way in is “personalization,” where consumers have direct choice over large groupings of linear and VOD channels, rather than paying for scores of channels they don’t use. The report gives examples of how IPTV providers are innovating in two critical areas—better choice (without forced buy-through) and better interactive experiences.

Over 20 IPTV content firms are profiled, including each company’s strategies and outlook for IPTV; broadcast, VOD, and interactive offerings; positions on content protection and digital rights management (DRM); and key customers.

“We believe this is the first comprehensive global report of IPTV content companies,” states Gary Schultz, MRG president. “IPTV Content is crucially important to IPTV service providers because local competition is driving them to move more toward personalization of choice, and unique triple-play offerings.”

Corporate profiles include content producers BBC Worldwide, BBC Interactive, Hallmark Channel, ImaginAsianTV, Mag Rack, and Shalom TV; content consultants 3Vision, Broadband Network Systems, and ON Demand Group; content aggregators Broadstream Communications, Gotuit Media, ICTV, and ViewNow/Kasenna; and system providers Alcatel and Myrio/Siemens.

IPTV Content Strategies – May 2005 is available for $1,995.00 US for a departmental license (PDF format), $1,495.00 US for a printed (hard copy) version, and at no cost as part of the IPTV Tracking Service. For information about a corporate license or the IPTV Tracking Service, contact MRG. This 100-page report can be ordered by contacting Rob Smith at 408-524-9767 or rsmith@mrgco.com, or by visiting www.mrgco.com.

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Global IP TV Market Leader Report Now Tracking over 220 Service Providers and 60 Suppliers

Las Vegas, NV - April 18, 2005 - Part of MRG’s IPTV Tracking Service, the new IP TV Market Leader Report--March 2005 measures the competitive position of 62 suppliers for 223 service providers (an increase of 30% over the previous report), serving over 2 million subscribers. The global Report ranks these 62 hardware/software suppliers for their “market position” and “growth opportunity” in Asia, Europe, North America, and the “ROW” in each of six market sectors, including analysis of which service providers buy the most products within each sector.

“The IPTV market is still in early development,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Sr. Analyst, “so it is prone to unpredictable market dynamics.” Some of the sector highlights include surprises: In the Middleware sector, Microsoft joined forces with Alcatel, winning long-term contracts with SBC in the US. In Set-top Boxes, while competition remains balanced among multiple suppliers, such as Motorola, Pace, Amino, Kreatel, i3 and others, Yuxing gained strength in Asia based on its deployment in PCCW/Hong Kong. In VOD Servers, while Kasenna and Bitband maintained leadership in North America and Europe, respectively, Entone won a big contract with PCCW (Hong Kong), which strengthened its position in China.

In Video Headend systems, Tut and Harmonic both maintained strong positions in North America and other markets, while Optibase and Tandberg captured increasing shares in Europe, Asia and North America. However, the Video Headend selections by SBC and BellSouth in the US, expected in 2005, can greatly impact leadership in this segment as well.

In Access Hardware, while Motorola maintained dominance in small U.S. independent telcos, its global market position slipped due in part to the industry trend towards Gigabit Ethernet/IP and away from its ATM technology. In the Content Protection sector, Widevine has taken a strong position in Asia and North America, while Via Access is doing well with its deployment in France Telecom.

The full IP TV Market Leader Report--March 2005 is available for $3,040 (single printed version) and for $3,995 (Departmental PDF License); or is included at no cost as part of the IPTV Tracking Service Subscription. For more information about a Corporate License or IPTV Subscription, contact rsmith@mrgco.com, or call Rob Smith, 408-524-9767 at MRG (Multimedia Research Group, Inc.) in Sunnyvale, CA.

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IP TV Global Market Report Forecasts 25 Million Subs by 2008

System Integration and Professional Services Added to Six-Sector Forecast

Sunnyvale, CA - March 9, 2005 - Multimedia Research Group, Inc. (MRG, Inc.) announces its new semi-annual IP TV Forecast, IP TV Global Forecast Update - March 2005, as part of its year-round IP TV Tracking Service. Projecting growth from 1.9 million subscribers in 2004 to 25.3 million in 2008, for the first time the forecast includes System Integration & Professional Services as part of its global forecast. In addition to the 6 other product sectors broken down by region and country (IP TV Set-top boxes, Video Headends, VOD Servers, Middleware, Access Equipment, and Content Protection), the report also forecasts IP TV subscriber revenue growth from $635 million in 2004 to $7.2 billion in 2008, also broken down on regional and service-provider levels.

The forecast also identifies the “top ten” (or equivalent) regional service providers in each of four regions (Asia, Europe, North America and ROW), broken down by the seven product segments for 2004-2008. “This granular approach enables system and content suppliers a quick understanding of the service providers that dominate 60% or more of the regional sectors” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Sr. Analyst.

“Since our semi-annual forecasts are released periodically, states Gary Schultz, MRG President, “ each new forecast helps our users and subscribers make mid-term corrections to their regional R&D and Marketing activities in this dynamic and fast-moving market.” Regional changes revealed and analyzed include:

• Plans by SBC and BellSouth to deploy large IP TV networks in the U.S.
• Plans by Verizon to use IP TV technology for Video On Demand services to supplement its RF based broadband video service over its Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) access network.
• Introduction of Video On Demand IP TV services by China Telecom.
• Broad deployment of IP TV services in many countries in Europe.
• Continued growth of subscribers by the major established IP TV service providers. such as, Free in France, PCCW in Hong Kong, and FastWeb in Italy.

The new 60-page report is available for $5,200, which includes print and/or pdf (Departmental License) formats. For more information about this report or the IP TV Tracking Service, contact Rob Smith (at rsmith@mrgco.com) or by phone at 408-524-9767.

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Report on IP TV System Integration & Professional Services Shows Fast Changes in Industry

Sunnyvale, CA 2/16/2005 - As the global IP TV (or IPTV) industry grows, the demand for System Integration & Professional (SI) services also grows. Since IP TV systems are very complex, Service Providers of all sizes are requiring outside help to minimize time-to-market while staying within budget.

The new report from MRG, Inc., “System Integration & Professional Services in IP TV Networks” is the first in-depth review of the global IPTV SI industry, and is part of MRG’s year-round “IP TV Tracking Service.” The report breaks the markets into different components of service including Video Networks, Access Systems, Middleware & Backend Software, and System Integration. The report also profiles all the major large and mid-size SI providers, their products, services, partners and financial results.

The report also tracks why and how SI services for IP TV have undergone significant growth since 2003 based on profiles of Alcatel, Motorola, Thales, UTStarcom, Lucent, Myrio, Kasenna, ECI and many others. The profiles include a wide variety of integration and professional services that supplement each SI company’s own product and service offerings. In general, SI companies have developed a variety of end-to-end services that match the size of the service provider, as a means to shorten the time-to-market. “Yet, one of the biggest challenges for SI providers to solve,” states Bob Larribeau, MRG Sr. Analyst, “is to integrate competitors’ products into their end-to-end solutions, while correctly assuming or allocating responsibility for each company’s piece of the Service Level Agreement (SLA).”

According to Gary Schultz, MRG CEO, “Large companies have identified IP TV System Integration as a major business opportunity, first as a way of increasing the sale of their hardware and software products, and second as a significant source of revenue.” Other examples of new SI services include advanced systems design, pre-integration, in-plant SLA verification, and personnel training and/or operations management. Besides rapid service deployment, the new SI services allow for faster customer service, earlier attention to marketing issues and more rapid achievement of high quality-of-service levels.

The 65 page report is available immediately for $1,995, printed version or Departmental PDF license; and $2,995 for a PDF Corporate License. For more information, contact Rob Smith (at rsmith@mrgco.com) or by phone at 408-524-9767.

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Sunnyvale, CA 2/8/2005 - A new study from MRG, Inc, shows how the eight largest US cable MSOs (Multi System Operators) are sequencing and prioritizing new services to address triple-play threats from Satellite and emerging Telco competition. Although Wall Street recently financed over $65 billion in infrastructure upgrades for cable (spending roughly $1000 per subscriber), MSOs are now having to finance further upgrades to deploy VOIP (voice over IP), enhanced HSD (High Speed Data), VOD (Video on Demand), advanced DVRs (Digital Video Recorders), and related Interactive (iTV) services.

In the process of adding new services, MSOs have also discovered the problematic “silo effect” of running simultaneous (but independent) IP and non- IP services, adding significant complexities and costs. “The good news is that many of the new services (VOIP, VOD, HSD and DVRs) add new revenues,” states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO. “The bad news is that the silo effect needs to be tamed quickly.”

The report shows that IP and GBE upgrades are a high priority in 2005 to 2008; and explains the role of MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) devices, node splitting and other infrastructure upgrades the MSOs have planned. It also reveals that DVRs will play a major strategic roll because they create immediate new revenues, provision VOD and other digital services, reduce churn, and neutralize a major satellite advantage. Trial and deployment schedules of over 20 new services are examined, including HD (High Definition TV), Multi-Room DVRs, Advertising on Demand, Free on Demand (FOD), OCAP upgrades (Open Cable Applications Protocol), Photo Storage, and others (related and unrelated to DVRs).

Each new service is rated by short- and long-term strategic importance, reasons for high or low importance ratings, number already deployed in each MSO’s territories, and target revenue per sub (average and by MSO).

The 90-page report, part of the Triple-Play Series, is available immediately for $2,995 (printed copy or pdf--Departmental License), or $3,995 for a corporate license. (Contact MRG for further details about corporate usage privileges).

For more info, contact Connie Lee (conniel@mrgco.com) or call us (at 408-524-9767).

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