MRG Reports on Scaling IPTVMRG Reports on Scaling IPTV

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- A new report by MRG, Inc. analyzes how telecommunications providers will scale their infrastructures to deliver IPTV (IP TV) to their growing subscriber bases. AT&T/SBC, Verizon, France Telecom, Free, and others are expanding their IPTV services, and creating entirely new content delivery models. Network architecture and bandwidth accommodation are two primary considerations -- how will these and smaller IPTV service providers scale their networks to handle subscriber growth? How will these service providers leverage IPTV to compete against cable's sizable installed base for VOD services?

The report shows that by 2009, the number of IPTV networks with over 100,000 subscribers will grow from five to over forty, including eight networks with over one million. The report, "Mega Scale IPTV Networks: How to Create Very Large IPTV Networks", addresses these critical questions and offers strategic perspectives from hardware, software, and network delivery companies leading the push for IPTV.

"Careful engineering will be key," states Bob Larribeau, MRG Senior Analyst. "Distributing IPTV functions to the edge and paying attention to software architecture will clearly facilitate the scaling of IPTV networks."

The report analyzes key considerations to scaling an IPTV network: content aggregation, type of network used, and bandwidth capacities. It identifies the critical factors that impact scalability throughout the entire IPTV supply chain, from broadcaster, to network delivery, to end-user behavior. It also cites areas for potential cost savings in network deployment and content aggregation, at the set-top box and headend.

"VOD companies with distribution caching functions will be one of the most important links," states Gary Schultz, MRG CEO, "because on-demand viewing behavior will become a major driver of new IPTV services."

Multimedia Research Group (MRG) Inc.