Abstract
For the past few years, cable operators of all shapes and sizes have been
scratching their heads in confusion about the growing bandwidth shortages
confronting them. Despite the industry' s unprecedented $160 billion investment
in new hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) plant and customer premises equipment (CPE)
over the past 14 years, its extensive network, headend, equipment, and other
upgrades have not created enough capacity to handle all of the new digital
video services that cable providers want and need to carry.
In fact, it has become increasingly clear that soaring consumer and
competitive demand for precious bandwidth may far outstrip the cable
industry' s ability to meet that demand, especially in smaller and midsize
markets throughout North America. Because of a volatile mix of legacy analog
channels, digital video networks, HDTV channels, VoD services, HD VoD
programming, DVR applications, broadcast digital must-carry requirements,
Internet video downloads, and other factors, cable operators will need more
and more bandwidth for video services.
At the same time, the competitive challenges to cable' s 60-year rule of the
pay TV market are multiplying and intensifying. In the US, for instance, prime
cable rivals such as DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon, and AT&T are aggressively
expanding their digital video, HD, VoD, DVR, mobile video, 3DTV, multi-screen
video, and other next-gen video service offerings, making a particular impact
in smaller metro and rural regions. Moreover, a bevy of popular "over-the-top"
(OTT) video providers have emerged to lure viewers away from the TV screen
altogether. Unlike cable' s other rivals, these OTT players are trying to
entice cable subscribers to cut the cord not only on their cable video
subscriptions, but on all costly pay TV subscriptions. In response to these
mounting threats, even the smallest cable operators know they must carry
increasingly more "bandwidth-hogging" video services to remain competitive
with their main satellite TV telco video rivals. They are now scrambling for
ways to deliver more digital cable networks, HDTV channels, VoD programming,
HD VoD choices, advanced time-shifting options, mobile video services, and
multi-screen video offerings. Many cable providers are also looking to offer a
raft of other advanced video services to subscribers, including interactive TV
(ITV) applications, 3DTV, Internet video, targeted advertising, video
conferencing, and even IPTV.
That much is clear. But what is not yet clear is which video services, or
combination of video services, will be rolled out by each cable operator. Nor
is it clear when, where, and why each MSO will launch its new video services
or in what sequence.
The other big issue is how cable providers will develop and deliver these more
advanced video services. Faced with a growing bandwidth shortage, MSOs are
already exploring or pursuing a wide range of technologies, tools, and
techniques to expand their overall capacity and use their existing spectrum
more efficiently. Specifically, they are now deploying or weighing the
following approaches to stave off the pending bandwidth crunch:
- Analog channel reclamation
- Digital terminal adapters (DTAs)
- Fiber node segmentation
- Switched digital video (SDV)
- 1GHz plant upgrades
- MPEG-4 video encoding
- Higher quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation
- Variable bit-rate encoding (VBR)
- Deep-fiber extensions
- Fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) builds
- Current or future passive optical network (PON) technology
- IP video (IPTV)
Exploring Cable Next-Gen Video Services & Strategies analyzes the advanced
video services that cable operators are exploring and testing as the
competitive video landscape starts to shift against them. Drawing on the
results of a survey of cable operators worldwide, the report looks at the
positioning of cable operators in the competitive video market - as well as
the positions of their main rivals. It then focuses on the new video services
that hold the most promise and the new home equipment that will be required to
deliver them. The report also examines the various bandwidth management tools,
technologies, and techniques that cable operators can leverage today. It
analyzes the different bandwidth management options, compares and contrasts
them, and weighs the costs and benefits whenever possible.
The report provides detailed profiles of the five leading US MSOs - Comcast,
Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, and Cablevision Systems - and explains
their diverse strategies for delivering advanced video services and clearing
enough bandwidth to deliver them. The report also profiles more than two dozen
technology vendors operating in the next-gen video market, spelling out their
strategies, products, customer wins and losses, strengths, and weaknesses.
Cable operators today can choose from an expanding list of devices to handle
video content for their customers, including dual-tuner HD DVRs, DTAs,
next-gen set-top boxes (STBs), digital gateways, smart remotes, or
applications for connected devices. The range of options is stretching and
redefining the traditional meaning of an STB, as emerging devices are helping
cable serve multiple screens and add more interactive and on-demand features.
The excerpt below outlines the many hardware and software solutions that
broaden the scope of how cable operators can use STBs and other devices.
Report Scope and Structure
Exploring Cable Next-Gen Video Services & Strategies is structured as follows:
- Section I includes a full executive summary and report key findings.
- Section II provides a general overview of the competitive video
landscape for cable operators today, focusing first on cable providers, and
then on their two main video rivals - satellite and telco TV providers.
- Section III catalogs and describes 12 of the advanced video
services that cable operators are planning to develop and deploy. Drawing on
the results of our global survey of cable operators, this section also ranks
the popularity of each service with providers.
- Section IV delves into the increasingly wide variety of digital
video STBs that the cable industry is developing and deploying, comparing and
contrasting the different types of STBs and assessing their suitability for IP
video.
- Section V examines the various bandwidth optimization strategies
that cable operators are considering or pursuing to increase their capacity
for advanced video services, analyzing the costs and benefits of each strategy
and spotlighting examples of deployments by various MSOs.
- Section VI profiles the five leading US MSOs, focusing on their
next-gen video strategies.
- Section VII provides in-depth profiles of more than two dozen
equipment, software, and system suppliers serving or seeking to serve the
cable video market.
The report is essential reading for a wide range of industry participants,
including the following:
- Service providers: What advanced video services are most in demand
from video customers? What technologies and tools are available to enable
cable operators to use their existing spectrum most efficiently? How can
advanced video technologies help cable providers stave off growing threats
from telco, satellite, and OTT competitors? Which technology providers are
best positioned to serve your needs for next-gen video capabilities in the
network and user equipment?
- Equipment vendors: Which advanced video services and capabilities
are most coveted by service providers, and what are their preferred strategies
for implementing them? How will future trends in bandwidth demand shape
requirements for advanced video technologies? What methods are cable operators
exploring to optimize their HFC networks to stave off a bandwidth crisis? How
do your next-gen video technology plans map to those of your competitors?
- Investors: Which technology suppliers are best placed to benefit
from the transition to next-gen video services? How is the business case for
next-gen video being made, and how can it be more compelling? What kinds of
network upgrades will cable operators require to support competitive video
services, and what will these changes mean for their future capex budgets? How
will the competition between cable operators and telco, satellite, and OTT
upstarts influence winners and losers in this dynamic market?
Exploring Cable Next-Gen Video Services & Strategies is published in
PDF format.
Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES
I. INTRODUCTION & KEY FINDINGS
- 1.1 Key Findings
- 1.2 Report Scope & Structure
II. COMPETITIVE VIDEO LANDSCAPE
- 2.1 Cable Operators
- Comcast Corp
- Time Warner Cable Inc.
- Cox Communications Inc.
- Charter Communications Inc.
- Cablevision Systems Corp.
- 2.2 Satellite Providers
- Direc TV Inc.
- Dish Network LLC
- 2.3 Telco TV Providers
- Verizon Communications Inc.
- AT&T Inc.
III. CABLE NEXT-GEN VIDEO SERVICES
- 3.1 HDTV
- 3.2 Video on Demand (VoD)
- 3.3 Interactive TV (ITV)
- 3.4 Multi-Room (Whole-Home) DVR
- 3.5 Addressable Advertising
- 3.6 IPTV Service
- 3.7 Internet Video
- 3.8 Mobile Video
- 3.9 Network DVER
- 3.10 3DTV
- 3.11 Tablets & Other Connected Devices
- 3.12 Multi-screen Video
IV. CABLE NEXT-GEN VIDEO DEVICES
- 4.1 Cable STB Device & Capability Options
- 4.2 Cable MSO STB Activity
V. CABLE BANDWIDTH OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES
- 5.1 Analog Channel Reclamation
- 5.2 Switched Digital Video (SDV)
- 5.3 MPEG-4 Video Encoding
- 5.4 Fiber Node Segmentation
- 5.5 Digital Terminal Adapters (DTAs)
- 5.6 Higher QAM Modulation
- 5.7 Deep Fiber Extensions
- 5.8 Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) Networks
- 5.9 Variable Bit-Rate Encoding (VBR)
- 5.10 Future PON Technology
- 5.11 Use of Multiple Wavelengths
- 5.12 Expanding Spectrum
- 5.13 Current PON Technology
VI. CABLE MSO NEXT-GEN VIDEO STRATEGIES
- 6.1 Comcast Corp
- 6.2 Time Wamer Cable Inc.
- 6.3 Cox Communications Inc.
- 6.4 Charter Communications Inc.
- 6.5 Cablevision Systems Corp.
VII. CABLE NEXT-GEN VIDEO VENDOR PROFILES
- 7.1 ActiveVideo Networks Inc.
- 7.2 Advanced Digital Broadcast
- 7.3 Alcatel-Lucent
- 7.4 Arris Group Inc.
- 7.5 Avail-TVN
- 7.6 BigBand Networks Inc.
- 7.7 Cisco Systems Inc.
- 7.8 Clearleap Inc.
- 7.9 Concurrent Computer Corp.
- 7.10 Drake
- 7.11 EchoStar Technologies LLC
- 7.12 Edgeware AB
- 7.13 Ericsson AB
- 7.14 Evolution Digital LLC
- 7.15 ExtendMedia Inc.
- 7.16 Harmonic Inc.
- 7.17 Imagine Communications Inc.
- 7.18 Motorola Inc.
- 7.19 Move Networks Inc.
- 7.20 NDS Ltd.
- 7.21 Pace plc
- 7.22 Panasonic Corp.
- 7.23 RGB Networks Inc.
- 7.24 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
- 7.25 SeaChange International Inc.
- 7.26 Synacor Inc.
- 7.27 thePlatform Inc.
- 7.28 TiVo Inc.
- 7.29 Verivue Inc.
APPENDIX A: ABOUT THE AUTHOR
APPENDIX B: LEGAL DISCLAIMER
