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NEC's DSLAM enables IPTV subscribers to receive interactive and transaction-based services.[ 02:46 ]
Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated territories on the planet. But that density offered an opportunity to telecoms provider PCCW, whose phone network already served a huge number of households.
With the extra bandwidth available through their fibre optic cables the challenge was to expand their business by offering additional services to their customers down fixed telephone lines.
The solution was now TV, currently the world's largest IPTV service, offering multiple TV channels together with internet and telephone on the same broadband connection.
Paul Berriman;
I think, our, need to start a TV service started when we saw the cable companies starting to offer broadband services and telephone services, thereby coming into our own space in the market. And so we felt that we should take the game to them.
The company now leads the world with over 600,000 subscribers to a package which offers telephone, internet and interactive television. It was one example of the many ways in which NEC is supporting Next Generation Networking.
PCCW's now TV broadcasts 110 channels. Programmes can be watched live or as stored content. At the heart of the system is the NEC hardware which provides the platform – DSLAM or digital subscriber line access multiplexer which handles programme selection, billing and records what subscribers are watching. The service is interactive.
Paul Berriman;
One of my favourite services for the interactivity is the cinema ticketing service. We can scroll through to determine which movie we want to watch, which cinema, which date and which time and it will take us in and show us which seats are free and we can just select the tickets that we want. In fact more people are using this now than are using the internet version of this service.
For PCCW the NEC DSLAM's invaluable function in tracking what the specific subscriber is actually watching, gives unique insight into both what programming now TV should offer and to what advertisers they should be selling.
And for the subscriber there's the effortless enjoyment of simultaneous TV and internet usage, DVD quality pictures and interactive services all permanently on-line.
It's a win for both sides.
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated territories on the planet, with seven million people crammed into 500 square kilometres. That very high concentration makes it an attractive proposition to telephone companies a hotbed of competition.
PCCW is the largest telecommunications service provider in Hong Kong, with a network covering over two million homes. As has happened elsewhere in the world, PCCW found that cable TV companies were encroaching on its market, offering internet and telephone services along with their TV channels. With traditional telephone revenues being eroded and more competition from cable players, PCCW needed to squeeze new revenues and services out of its existing network. The solution? Play them at their own game. If TV companies could offer telephone services, why shouldn't PCCW offer its telephone customers TV programmes via broadband?
PCCW embarked on an ambitious program to construct a TV distribution network in September 2003. In a little over three years, the company has become a world-leading innovator. Over 600,000 IPTV subscribers now receive interactive television over the same phone line that provides telephone and internet services. PCCW's broadband customer base has doubled to over one million and PCCW's “now TV” service is today the largest IPTV installation in the world.
With 52% year-on-year growth in the subscriber base and over 66% of residential broadband lines connected to the PCCW "now TV" IPTV service, that is a huge commercial success.
PCCW's early launch of IPTV in the region helped to prevent other competitors from launching, thus increasing its revenues. Paul Berriman, Head of Strategic Market Development at PCCW says: "NEC's been very good, particularly on the development of what we call the DSLAM card."
PCCW's “now TV” broadcasts over 110 DVD-quality channels and programmes that can be watched live - or, in some cases, stored - as content-on-demand. At the heart of the system is the NEC hardware that provides the platform: DSLAM or Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer system. The DSLAM handles the programme selection for each individual subscriber, monitors what the viewer is watching and attends to the billing. More importantly, NEC's DSLAM also ensures that only customers with the right to view can receive the content, thus preventing piracy.
Among the system's many attractions is its interactivity and transaction-based services. For example, subscribers can buy cinema tickets using their set-top box and remote control. They can choose which film to go and see by viewing cinema trailers, then book tickets and choose seats, all via their TV. Other services allow viewers to check their stock prices and even Hong Kong's traffic congestion, as seen through the transport department's cameras.
The “now TV” system is also about high-end quality television. Already the signal has reached DVD quality for standard definition television and high-definition trials are under way.
With their innovative technologies, NEC has once again helped a client enter new markets and access new revenue streams: a solutions-provider on the fast track to the future.
