Earth vs. the Satellite, where to get TV?
I sit here listening to a presentation about Microsoft’s IPTV offerings, that are being implemented by some of the bigger DSL providers. Ya ya, who has 1.5 Mb DSL when you can get 3-5 Mb cable modems?
Well if you like DVR’s, HDTV and video on demand (VOD) all in one device, you want to switch to a DSL provider like SBC that is bringing fiber close to your house to accommodate IPTV. How much bandwidth? Think 25-40 Mb to allow 4 streams of video coming down to your house. Your set top box becomes a “dumb” device again and signals the real “tuners” back in providers datacenter. This allows the provider to allow as many tuners as they want for each customer. These tuners then point to a bunch of media servers that either contain live broadcasts or VOD content. BTW, because there is no digital signal streaming to a local set-top box, channel surfing is instantaneous, no lag.
VOD on IPTV is not the couple hundred shows that companies like Comcast offer, think endless content. If you want to see the 151st episode Cheers, it could be there if it is popular enough.
I have been a long holdout with my UltimateTV set-tops and DirecTV. I honestly don’t think that satellite providers aren't going to be able to compete because of the bandwidth necessary for these types of services. No to menition the round trip to the satelite and back. But, it is nice to see that IPTV’s interface is based off the learning of UltimateTV and Media Center.
Cable providers are not going to be able to compete in this market with their current infrastructure either. They need to go IP over their wire rather than analog and decoders, oh and crank up the bandwidth, a lot.
Now, can someone talk to Qwest about getting on the IPTV bus so that I can get it here in Denver?