anga_anga 10/05/2014 13:02 Page 6
Operators lack confidence in WiFi
esearch conducted by
Informa and
advanced wireless and
OTT/IPTV technologist
AirTies Wireless Networks
shows that 67% of satellite
and cable service providers
see inconsistent wireless coverage as a major barrier to
delivering video services in
the home.
The global survey of 235 senior
industry cable and satellite operators, telecom service providers,
mobile operators, OTT consumer
IP service providers and free-to-air
broadcasters asked respondents
their views on multiroom and
multi-device delivery of video services and the challenges they face in
supporting these services.
The report highlighted that
70% of respondents offer multiroom TV services and three in five
of those provide access to TV services via multiple types of device
within the home. Over 75% of
operators deliver TV services over
Wi-Fi, yet it is not deemed as the
most reliable physical infrastruc-
R
TiVo tops 4.5m subs
TiVo has revealed it has
more than 4.5 million subs
(including TiVo's retail TiVoOwned and pay-TV subscriptions) who are now enjoying
the TiVo experience, surpassing the previous record
number of 4.45m hit over
eight
years ago in
December of 2006.
TiVo has launched its solution with 12 global operators.
Three additional announced
partners intend to launch
solutions in the near future,
bringing TiVo's total to 15
partnerships. TiVo has distribution deals with US opera-
10 ADVANCED-TELEVISION.COM
ture for distributing video, with
only 32% citing it as most effective
in delivering video to multiple
screens in the home when compared to Powerline, Coaxial cable
and other in-home wiring. Service
providers asked to rate the reason
for support-related calls gave high
scores to poor WiFi range, dead
spots within the home followed by
WiFi connection speed being slower than headline Internet speeds.
Looking at the success of multiscreen and multiroom TV, the survey showed that quality of service
and improved reliability of WiFi
was high on the wish list of operators. 54% of respondents cited uniformity of service across multiple
devices to be the most important
service factor for customers.
Furthermore, 40% of operators
stated that minimising support
calls and truck rolls were of high
importance to them. Respondents
also rated the ability of subscribers
to install equipment themselves as
important with 36% giving this the
highest rating.
The report also found that serv-
ice providers use an ad hoc range
of approaches to delivering multiscreen video with just under half
(40%) providing no central DVR-
tors, including Suddenlink,
RCN, Grande, Atlantic
Broadband, General
Communications Inc. (GCI),
Astound, Cable ONE, Blue
Ridge Communication,
Mediacom, Midcontinent, Vyve
Communications, and Wave
Broadband.
TiVo's overseas deals currently include Virgin Media in
the UK, ONO in Spain, and
Com Hem, the largest
cable operator in
Scandinavia.
Additionally, recentlyacquired Digitalsmiths'
ongoing partnerships with
Time Warner Cable, Foxtel
and Bright House, among others, further intertwines TiVo
with an ever-growing list of
operators across the spectrum.
Jeff Klugman, TiVo's EVP,
said: “Our record subscriptions are the direct result of
TiVo's ability to bring real
innovation to the cable industry. For example, it's noteworthy that mid-size cable operators are answering the desires
of their customers for wholehome/multiscreen solutions
and access to OTT services
like Netflix before the likes of
some of the biggest operators
in the world. This would not
be possible today without
TiVo. Our diverse suite of
advanced television products
and services help operators
empower their customers to
easily navigate the tsunami of
content available today with a
single easy user experience
that searches across linear TV,
OnDemand, and OTT content
and delivers all that content,
on multiple screens from virtually anywhere. TiVo's solutions are value drivers for
operators and are quickly
becoming a must-have differentiator in an increasingly
competitive market.”
enabled gateway opting instead for
each set-top box to be connected
individually to the broadcast network. 28% of respondents deliver
broadcast TV signals to a central
gateway-type d ]