NEW ORLEANS – In a cable first, industry engineers are now openly debating how to make the big jump to IPTV as they aim to stretch their networks’ reach to all IP-enabled video devices. The problem is that they don’t really know how much bandwidth, time and effort the move will require just yet.
Gathered here for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ (SCTE’s) annual Cable-Tec Expo show last week, senior technology executives from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cisco Systems and SCTE said MSOs will soon begin their much-anticipated IPTV migration by simulcasting some linear channels in both the old RF and new IP formats. At the same time, though, the technology chiefs quibbled over how many channels will be needed to pull off the transition.
Getting the discussion going, John Chapman, who’s a Cisco fellow as well as CTO of Cisco’s access and transport technology group, suggested that cable operators could start the process by bonding four channels to create a limited IP video overlay. Then, he said, MSOs could step up the pace by bonding eight channels, enabling them to transmit a diverse lineup of standard-definition and HDTV channels. Finally, he said, cable providers could expand to 16 bonded channels, enough to offer a full IP video programming offering to 50% of all homes passed.
“The technology is still evolving,” Chapman said. “We can’t find a total IP video solution now… We’ll get to all-IP but the challenge is getting there smoothly.” He predicted that the whole transition process could end taking as long as a decade.
But Jay Rolls, senior VP of technology for Cox Communications, sees things a bit differently. Rolls said Cox officials view eight channels as “the right amount to get up and going” with IP video because of the MSO’s latest spectrum upgrades. Indeed, Cox has already upgraded most of its major cable systems to 1 GHz capacity, not 750 MHz or 860 MHz capacity as most other cable providers have done.
Rolls noted, though, that Cox would likely still end up bonding 16 channels together to carry both its planned IP video and broadband services. “Bandwidth is a gift that keeps on giving,” he quipped.
Unlike Chapman and Rolls, Steve Reynolds, senior VP of consumer premises equipment and home networking at Comcast, wouldn’t say how many channels his company might use to simulcast its current programming fare in the IP domain. Reynolds argued that this number is difficult to set because it will keep rising each year. “We need enough,” he stated simply. “It’s going to change… You have to continue to move forward.”
Mike Hayashi, executive VP of architecture, development and engineering for Time Warner Cable, declined to set a number as well. “You do have to look at it over time,” he said. In addition, Hayashi argued that the type and number of display devices served would influence the number of channels needed. But he noted that cable operators could adapt by changing their spectrum allocations.
As the panelists agreed, the number of channels dedicated for IP video matters because the industry will inevitably switch all of its managed video services over to IP as cable’s ability to bond channels keeps growing. With the latest DOCSIS 3.0 modems in the field, cable operators can now bond up to eight downstream channels together. At the same time, modem chipmakers are now starting to tinker with bonding 16 downstream channels.
Cable’s embrace of IP video delivery is also linked to its broader TV Everywhere drive, which is aimed at fending off competitive threats from such over-the-top video providers as Netflix, Google, Apple, and Hulu. Using their evolving multi-screen video networks, cable providers want to pipe video to the swiftly growing set of IP-connected TV sets, game consoles, computers, tablets, smart phones and other mobile devices, especially the new Apple iPad.
No technologist would venture when cable might start feeding IP video regularly to such consumer devices as the Sony PlayStation 3 and Internet-connected TVs. But they insisted that the industry is definitely moving in that direction. "We’re already on that trajectory with Xfinity," said Reynolds, talking about the Comcast TV Everywhere service that’s now pumping video content to home computers. "We’re already pushing video out to those IP endpoints… Our goal is to take that and move it to as many places as the customer wants.”
But Rolls advocated a more tailored approach, arguing that cable operators should focus on the key CE devices that make the most sense, such as the Sony PlayStation. "Writing a client for every single device out there would be futile," he said. "We’re not going to be writing a client for every type of device out there. We’ll use standards.”
Alan Breznick is a Toronto-based senior analyst at Heavy Reading, part of the Light Reading Communications Network. He helped cover Cable-Tec last week in New Orleans for Cartt.ca.
