Project report on

Emerging Technology

IPTV

Submitted by:
Gaurav Bansal (191024) FMG 19 A
Nishanth Prerappa(191037) FMG 19 A
Shounak Mondal (191055) FMG 19 A
DECLARATION

I do hereby declare that this project report entitled “EMERGING TECHNOLOGY IPTV” has been
prepared by my group and is being submitted to the Department of Information technology at FORE
School of Management, New Delhi under the esteemed guidance of Prof. Shilpi Jain.
All the particulars furnished in the project are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Group Leader
Shounak Mondal.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction and euphoria that accompanies the successful completion of any task would be
incomplete without mentioning the people who made it possible, because success is the epitome of hard-
work, perseverance, undeterred zeal, stead-fast determination and most of all encouraging guidance. We
should also acknowledge the contribution of the pioneers in the business communication field; especially
those teachings have become a part of our thinking. Certainly, my thanks and gratitude to all those who
have helped, encouraged and supported me all through this report.
I would also like to thank my Professor, Ms. Prof. Shilpi Jain whose guidance and support in terms of key
inputs formed the basis of the work undertaken.
 Abstract
The report deals with the current market status of IPTV in India. It’s probability to be a success
in this market.It highlights the major issues of spreading the technology of IPTV through the
medium of service providers throughout India

Introduction
Over the last decade, the growth of satellite service, the rise of digital cable, and the birth of
HDTV have all left their mark on the television landscape. Now, a new delivery method
threatens to shake things up even more powerfully. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has
arrived, and backed by the deep pockets of the telecommunications industry, it's poised to offer
more interactivity and bring a hefty dose of competition to the business of selling TV.
IPTV describes a system capable of receiving and displaying a video stream encoded as a series
of Internet Protocol packets. If you've ever watched a video clip on your computer, you've used
an IPTV system in its broadest sense. When most people discuss IPTV, though, they're talking
about watching traditional channels on your television, where people demand a smooth, high-
resolution, lag-free picture, and it's the telcos that are jumping headfirst into this market. Once
known only as phone companies, the telcos now want to turn a "triple play" of voice, data, and
video that will retire the side and put them securely in the batter's box.

In this report, we'll explain how IPTV works and what the future holds for the technology.
Though IP can (and will) be used to deliver video over all sorts of networks, including cable
systems, we'll focus in this article on the telcos and the business implications of IPTV. The telcos
are the most aggressive players in the game. They're pumping billions into new fiber rollouts and
backend infrastructure (AT&T alone inked a US$400 million deal for Microsoft's IPTV Edition
software last year, for instance, and a US$1.7 billion deal with hardware maker Alcatel). Why
the sudden enthusiasm for the TV business? Because the telcos see that the stakes are far higher
than just some television: companies that offer the triple play want to become the household's
sole communications link, and IPTV is a major part of that strategy.
Unique Features

 V Head-end: where live TV channels are encoded, encrypted and delivered in the form of IP
multicast streams.
 VOD platform: where on-demand video assets are stored and served when a user makes a
request in the form of IP unicast stream.
 Interactive portal: allows the user to navigate within the differents IPTV services, such as the
VOD catalog.
 Delivery network: the packet switched network that carries IP packets (unicast and
multicast).
 Home gateway: the piece of equipement at the user's home that terminates the access link
from the delivery network.
 User's set-top-box: the piece of equipment at the user's home that decodes and decrypt TV
and VOD content and displays it on the TV screen.

Satellite TV, Digital Cable TV and IP TV

Television is not a new concept. We are watching television for more than three decades. But, as
everyone knows, technology is ever evolving which is leading towards the exponential changes
in the world of television. With the advent of Digital TV, people got more choices to select the
medium of their television viewing experience. Every one is going beyond terrestrial broadcast
to get the best quality and enhanced television viewing experience.
There are three kinds of digital television broadcast systems existing today including Satellite
TV, Digital Cable TV and IP TV (Internet Protocol Television) being the latest entrant in the
world of television content broadcasting.
Internet Protocol Television (known widely as IP TV), being the newest arrival on the block,
threatens the other two mediums by promising to give a tough competition. IP TV is a
mechanism of viewing the regular television channels over IP. Similar to Satellite TV andCable
TV, the signal is encrypted using vendor specific security mechanisms and can only be
decrypted by a receiver (STB). The video is sent in the form of IP packets over the existing
broadband infrastructure and is assembled at the viewers’ end with the help of a Set Top Box.
This becomes advantageous as existing broadband distribution infrastructure can be used to
deliver television signals enabling the user to enjoy television over the same broadband
connection used for surfing the internet. This is beneficial for broadcasters as they can offer
“Triple Play” service of voice, data and television over the same network using the same
infrastructure. “Triple Play” service refers to three different services of VoIP, Internet and IP-TV
bundled together and offered over the same network. With IP TV, one can be assured of better
video quality and stereophonic sound much like in case of DTH & DigitalCable TV. Even the
customer specific services of Video on Demand (VOD) become a reality. Also, this enables
broadcasters to have two way communications with the viewers as opposed to in case
of DTH and Cable TV. IP –TV, still being in its stage of infancy, is not very stable. Due to high
bandwidth requirement (approximately 5 Gbps, even ADSL2+ technology can support only up to
25 Mbps), hundreds of channels cannot be broadcasted simultaneously. Every channel change
request by the user goes to the content server resulting in a delay for changing a channel.
Currently, IP-TV is in roll out phase with broadcasters being BSNL, MTNL, Airtel and Reliance
only in selected cities of India.

IP – TV has it own advantages but now, lets move on to Satellite TV (popularly known asDTH).
In DTH, signal is received using a dish antenna installed at the user premises. The specifications
of dish antenna may vary for each broadcaster with some broadcaster using bigger dish or
varying the number of LNBs(Low Noise Blocks). This dish antenna receives the signal in
encrypted form from the satellite and is installed with in direct line of sight of the satellite. Also,
a Set Top Box (STB) is placed inside the viewer’s home. From this antenna, RG-6 coaxial cable
connects the STB for signal transmission. This STB works only after a particular signal quality
& strength is achieved which is fine tuned by using signal meter while installing the dish
antenna. As in the case of Cable TV, STB receiver is used to decrypt the signal and enable the
viewer to watch TV. In case of DTH, the content is direct controlled by the broadcaster and
enables the viewer to pay and view the channels/bouquets as per his requirements. Similarly, the
advantages of DVD quality signal and stereo sound are implicitly available to the viewer. The
major advantage comes in the form of signal being available 24/7 as there is no intermediate
operator between the broadcaster and the viewer unlike IP TV orDigital Cable TV.
Various DTH broadcasters in India are Tata Sky, Bharti Airel, Sun Direct, DD Direct,
Reliance Big TV, and Dish TV.
Satellite TV or DTH seems very promising and is quite a but successful in getting hold of market
share but Cable TV is still on top claiming the highest numbers of subscribers to itself. Cable
TV was one of the very early systems deployed worldwide against the traditional terrestrial
system. It started with the analog systems in place. The signals from the various satellites were
received at the Multi System Operator (MSO) end with the use of multiple high end dish
antennas. These signals were then multiplexed at MSO end and then, transmitted to homes using
coaxial cables. These signals were amplified by placing signal amplifiers at strategic points in
the cable network. The whole network was managed by distributors authorized by MSO
according to the area divisions. But as the signals were analog and were transmitted in a clear
format, a lot of noise used to get added over the network before it reached the end user. Also,
Signals were stolen by placing hooks on the wire adding to a lot of noise. This made life
miserable for those who paid these MSO’s on a regular basis for the services. Now, that
the Digital Cable TV is in place with broadcasters, Cable TV viewing experience is much
different from what it used to be in case of Analog Cable TV as mentioned earlier.
With Digital Cable TV, the user needs to install a Set Top Box (STB) at home and has a luxury
of choosing channels/bouquets as per his requirements. The major advantage comes in the form
of crystal clear Video and stereo audio. The signal distribution model still remains the same. But
the signal is now encrypted and can only be decrypted by STB. So, even if someone tries to form
a signal leakage point, it is of no use as the signal is nothing but a noise without subscription
from MSO. The leading Cable TV broadcasters inIndia are Den Networks, Hathway &
DigiCable
Business implications of IPTV
For telecom service providers, voice continues to be the dominant source of revenue despite
increasing use of data services. The reason is that while Internet-based services gen erate a
lot of traffic, they do not generate adequate revenues in the traditional model. The voice-
based revenue stream from fixed lines is also coming under severe threat due to the
movement towards free voice services based largely on VoIP and falling mobile tariffs. The
possibilities generated by the increasing popularity of broadband services will not mean
much unless a killer application is found. IP-based applications are very promising and
industry tends to get around to the view that IP-based entertainment through IPTV may be
the application they have been waiting for.

Strategic issues Opportunities and Challenges for the rollout of IPTV in India
IPTV service is an independent network architecture called content delivery network (CDN) which
provides delivery of video over IP (Internet Protocol) thus enabling triple play of voice, data, and
video. This service is dependent on broadband availability. CDN architecture is a marriage of various
devices and technologies including billing and set top box. IPTV technologies have matured. Delivery
of IPTV service is bandwidth hungry and need managed bandwidth of 2–3 Mbps at each customer
location. A good broadband connection is a life line for its survival. Rapid growth of broadband is the
need of the hour. Announcement of IPTV policy guidelines by Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting (I&B) is awaited. The big players are perhaps looking forward to clearing of the
regulatory environ- ment before commercial launch even after conducting successful trials.

Are Indian consumers ready for IPTV ?

There are 100 million cable TV homes and 4 million satellite direct TV homes in the country.
The key driver for growth of this segment is purely entertainment and lately the consumer is
looking for added values and high definition picture quality. Rise in purchasing power enables
both rural and urban consumers to move to people are moving from two cable TV sets (one in
bedroom and the other in drawing room) to dish TV for better quality of picture, whereas in
rural areas, people are moving from community TV sets to personal TV sets. A new trend is
seen in a few countries, that of demand for IPTV. India would also see this trend provided
broadband access in the country is increased and becomes ubiquitous. IPTV is a fully
digitized service and the biggest booster is the feel good factor about having
audio/video/text in one platform with complete control over the remote control. IPTV
deployments are reaching substantial mass with multiple deployments above 400 K subscribers
Western EU has about 2 million,France has about 2 million subscribers, FT, Telefonica,
PCCW combined around 1.5 million,Asia Pacific will contribute 47 percent growth (according
to a report by ABI research)

Role of service providers and content developers in the roll out of IPTV in India

Effective participation of content developers and providers is of vital importance. The service
provider is only an enabler and provides medium for content delivery network. Marriage of
content provider and service provider is a must for establishing a win – win situation wherein
both share profit on reasonable terms. It is a new kind of experience which service provider is
having and it will take some time to settle the ground for both content provider and service
provider as their backgrounds are different. Sooner this learning process is completed,
quicker will be the roll out. In network terms, IPTV requires establishing a point-to-point
link through virtual addressing between the operator’s server and the customer and uses
multicasting techniques to achieve broadcast effect. The key issue in creating an IP
distribution network is that the IP mode will not be the only difference from the present
distribution network. IPTV service can provide Live TV, time shifted TV, and VoD after
code conversion and encryption. Typically, the live video content is delivered in Moving
Pictures Expert Group version-2 (MPEG-2) format using IP multicast. This is the method in
which information can be sent to multiple computers simultaneously. Newly released H.264
format is pre-designed to replace the older MPEG-2. In standard-based IPTV systems,
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) and Real Time Streaming Protocol RTSP) are
used. Here, IGMP version 2 is used for channel change and signaling for live TV viewing and
RTSP is used for stored services like VoD.

Regulatory issues of IPTV in India

Classification of IPTV service is still not clear. Cable TV operators, USAL licensees, and ISPs
are proposed to provide IPTV service as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
recommendations to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). These three service
providers are governed by different s tatutes and licensing terms as well as FDI norms.

Business Uses for IPTV on the Rise

GET READY FOR IPTV IN MCDONALD’S, HOTELS AND OTHER BUSINESS

SETTINGS.

Since IPTV is generally considered a consumer offering, its potential business applications often
go unnoticed. However, there is a growing trend toward IPTV use for purposes such as employee
training, corporate communications and even retail applications. For example, broadband
solutions provider Broadcast International Inc. just announced plans to implement a private
IPTV network in 335 McDonald’s locations to provide customers with unique video content,
including live news, sports, weather and pre-recorded commercials. Uses such as these will only
continue to expand as IPTV deployments increase.
other business applications as more likely to spread in the near future. “One of the big potential
uses for IPTV is in the hotel and hospitality markets. One of the advantages that businesses have
in using IPTV is that scaling isn't an issue. The hotel might have 1,000 rooms but will still need
only one management server, so it's fairly cheap to install and run. Furthermore, the business can
take advantage of internal phone lines — major rebuilding to put cabling in isn't generally
necessary.When live TV is on, users can communicate with show hosts and audiences through
the 2-way communication.
PTV also gives people the chance to create a private network of television entertainment and
content that is digital quality and doesn't have the bugs and buffering issues of internet videos
and web-based television. If it helps you to compare this service to something, think in terms of
the closed-circuit televisions that we often see used in schools and offices to limit the
broadcasting that is seen or to show advertisements and dedicated television content as needed.
Using the internet-bandwidth connection allows for higher quality images and better production
than analogue and digital television through cable services.

This particular product is not quite at its peak yet, but is growing in popularity. If you are looking
for a better way to broadcast or provide television to customers or employees, this might be a
great solution. The technology isn't going to be applicable to every business, but it has many
different applications that users can appreciate in a business setting. If you have an interest in the
latest technology or if you currently have a VOIP provider for your phone service, you may well
want to consider IPTV as an alternative to a standard satellite provider or cable network to get
improved quality, better customisation, and plenty of other benefits for your business needs.

Standardization of the IPTV technology

Standardization of set top box and its interoperability is very important. TRAI has
recommended that this as pect needs to be ensured for providing multiple choice to the users.
Interna tional Telecom Union (ITU) under its recommendation, J700, has finalized specifications
for IPTV.

The future of IPTV in India

Full potential of IPTV would be realized when the reach of broadband connectivity is
widespread. It is the mission of IPTV Forum to facilitate policies and regulations which
will encourage broadband connectivity and will open up new vistas, unleashing the full
potential of IPTV.

Some of the key IPTV Service Providers

 BSNL
BSNL has been offering IPTV services in over 50 cities of India, some of these includes Kolkata,
Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Chandigarh, to smaller cities like
Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam etc. BSNL Kolkata started its services in Aug-07. Company is
providing triple play service featuring telephone, broadband internet and TV. Additional services
like pause, fast forward VOD (video on-demand).
 MTNL
MTNL is offering IPTV services in Mumbai and Delhi so far. IPTV services in Delhi started in
Oct-06.
  Bharti-Airtel
In its first phase Bharti-Airtel has started providing IPTV services to customers of NCR (Delhi,
Gurgaon, and Noida). Bharti Airtel started its services in Jan-2000.

  Reliance
Reliance IPTV service is currently available in select areas of Mumbai.

IPTV will offer the largest library of national, international and regional video content, such as,
movies and music, among others. Besides, customers can have a choice of over hundred TV
channels, including high-definition (HD) channels and exclusive Reliance channels, Behl said. 

Is India ready for IPTV?

This is one big question everyone has on their mind. Operators are aggressively promoting DTH
services and not IPTV services. Based on expert survey’s and expert interviews we sense from
the stakeholder’s response that IPTV is going to take some time to gather critical mass. Based on
expert interviews and research surveys we have gathered following facts
 Telecom players (read carriers) are not very aggressively pushing IPTV right now.
They are heavily involved in their DTH service promotions.
 Companies are playing safe and waiting to see the results of IPTV launch of some of
the existing companies
  Operators are waiting for the broadband infrastructure to grow and be IPTV ready
Based on expert analysis it is believed that IPTV will take some years to gain scale and will
directly depend on telcos push, infrastructure and broadband penetration. Its success would
depend on how seriously the top 4 telcos (with broadband infrastructure) take it up. Their
involvement and creation of push would depend on the rate of return and the point of break even.
Also possibility of global IPVT giant entering the Indian market cannot be ruled out. Despite low
internet penetration rate of 2% it is predicated that India will have 2.5 million IPTV subscribers
by 2018 with just 6% broadband penetration rate making it fourth highest in Asia.
Threat of substitutes?
Question of substitute does not arise here as IPTV would have to go beyond people’s
imagination. “Just providing video Programs/video on demand through IPTV does not seem to
be a viable business model in India since cable and DTH have already established a very large
viewer ship base for themselves. Telcos and IPTV service providers have to come out with
innovative services newer applications that can catch the attention of consumers. Unless IPTV
establishes a unique selling proposition (USP), it will not be a popular choice or a substitute for
DTH or Cable operators.
Pricing
Indian market is extremely sensitive to price and to successes stakeholders will have to carefully
price their services to win in a competitive environment. Currently IPTV Packages are
aggressively priced infect some of the packages are at par with prices of DTH packages.
However cost of STBS (Set Top Boxes) are extremely high and needs to come down drastically
to attract more subscribers. This can be the potential make or break for success of IPTV in the
Indian market. Expert believes that the Indian market offers great opportunity for set top box
manufacturers for long term growth. Set top box manufacturers can look at innovative design
models with low cost manufacturing capabilities to support mass demand from the Indian
market.
Companies would have to draw inspiration from mobile/ handset manufacturers like Nokia, LG,
and Samsung etc who churned out low cost customized devices targeted at the Indian market.
Expert’s interviews also reveal that globally companies are trying to integrate High Definition
Television (HDTV) with a built in set top box which acts as a multi compatible device that can
support Cable, DTH & IPTV. One such initiative in India is taken by Aksh Optifibre which is
currently testing an integrated television set in which IPTV has been integrated so that
consumers do not need any extra box expert believes this is just a beginning of various
innovative business models to push IPTV into the hands of consumer the next wave of
development in highly competitive markets like India and China might bring global innovation
for IPTV. Below is a snapshot of some of the available packages and pricing models for IPTV in
India.
Consumer intake
Expert has interviewed IPTV subscriber’s across the country and finds that consumer reaction is
very mixed. Subscribers are about the concept but we they find it difficult to differentiate
between DTH and IPTV. We believe this is largely due to quality of service, lack of user
generated content and high cost of digital set top boxes.So far IPTV in India has not been able to
make great impact and we suggest understanding Indian consumer needs and aggressive
marketing strategy to successfully grow the IPTV subscriber base.
Future
 Wireless IPTV
Expert believes that wireless IPTV also called ‘Quadruple Play’ is going to be a revolution in
India. Launch of LTE and WiMAX technology in the future can bring about a huge change in the
Indian market.
 User Generated Content
IPTV is much beyond DTH when it comes to user generated content. Exclusivity of content and
differentiation will be key requirements for IPTV to be successful has gone beyond DTH
potential to go beyond DTH when it comes to brining user Interactivity believes that wireless
IPTV is going to be a revolution in India. Launch of 3G and WiMAX technology will bring
about a huge change in the Indian market.
 Interactivity
IPTV is all about Interactivity, services from a cable operator are “pushed” into your home. The
user has limited choice and has to keep on surfing channels for variety. Cable TV is a one-way
communication where as IPTV provides for a two-way communication. User has complete
control over the content he wishes to view. IPTV provides range of interactive services like
customized channel views, programme flow, instant content sharing (News, videos, programmes,
advertisement, music etc), email, betting, games, shopping, information, Internet access and even
customized advertisements. You request a program from the TV guide and the program is
delivered to you. Also content providers and operators will have to come up with more
innovative interactive services to capture the imagination of Indian consumers.
Also one school of thought feels that Windows Embeddedbased solutions will enable more
flexibility and versatility in offering services ranging from IP-based broadcasting to video-on-
demand, IP telephony, gaming, and vertical markets such as
 Media: Internal content distribution within news broadcasting, movie and video
production services
 Hospitality: Hotels, resorts, cruises, and luxury apartments such as Leopalace21
 Interactive point-of-sale advertising
 Education
 Corporate
 Government
 Competitive Environment
IPTV is not just restricted to telecom operators globally leading cable operators have
aggressively marketed IPTV services to reach out to new customer segments. Cable operators
can leverage their existing cable network infrastructure; existing customer base and customer
reach to offer comprehensive and high quality services at affordable prices.
One of the recent examples of IPTV deployment by cable operator is by Butler-Bremer
Communications, which launched Cable IPTV services with Harmonic (On demand video’s
Direct-2 Edge solution) and Falcon IP/Complete Solutions (For “bird to box” video solution).

Conclusion/Learning
From all the research conducted on IPTV and from all the data gathered it can be concluded that
IPTV has got a huge prospect in the Indian market. There will be many vendors simultaneously
competing with each other in the Indian communication market which will help in avoiding a
monopolistic market and will lead to fair pricing of the service.
The latest technology will bring about a huge revolution in the cable TV market too which may
disappear slowly. Though this technology seems to have a strong hold on the current and near
future market, the arrival of wireless IPTV will again disturb the equilibrium and change market
trends.

References/ bibliography
 TCP/IP Professional Reference Guide- Author-Gilbert Held
 Understanding Iptv- By Gilbert Held
 http://www.iptvmagazine.com/
 Wiki IPTV
 TVOver.Net
  IMS-based IPTV services - architecture and implementation
 www.globalbusinessinsights.com/content/rbtc0119m.pdf
 www.althos.com/.../IPTV-Business-Opportunities-tutorial-alert.html
 Articles about iptv from Times Of India and Hindu
 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/BSNL-launches-interactive-
personalised-TV/articleshow/4452407.cms-
 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/telecom/RCom-to-launch-IPTV-
service/articleshow/5911851.cms-
 www.hindu.com/2008/01/05/stories/2008010561661200.htm