bbpmag.com - Broadband Properties

INDEPENDENT TELCOS
To further reduce costs, Gorham Tel formed an LLC,
Video Solutions, in partnership with two other Kansas telcos
in order to manage the IPTV middleware and the video-ondemand
application and produce some local programming.
The two telco partners, along with other companies, will also
be allowed to make use of the headend facility. (It’s common
for rural telcos to share headends with other providers in order
to achieve economies of scale.)
The IPTV service was rolled out in January, including
high-definition stations and a VoD offering. A DVR feature
is being tested now. Within a few weeks after the service went
live, 150 video customers were enrolled. “The take rate is fairly
good,” Murphy says, adding that he expects to see more users
sign up. In the communities where Gorham did not previously
provide cable, consumers’ only options were satellite and offthe-air
TV, and many of them are expressing interest in the
new fiber-to-the-home offering.
A Service Provider to Service Providers
Eric Patterson, CSI Digital’s VP for Sales, refers to his company
as a “service provider to service providers.” The services
CSI provides include:
• Design, engineering, construction and integration of the
telco’s IPTV hardware, software and programming;
• Encoding the programming in MPEG-4 format, adding
encryption and retransmitting it; and
• Post-implementation maintenance and monitoring.
CSI can also provide wholesale voice and data solutions
(options that Gorham Tel did not avail itself of).
Service providers must still obtain content affiliate rights
from the content providers or from aggregators, but they have
far less work to do at the headend, because they are receiving
content that is already encoded and encrypted. CSI’s solutions
are nonproprietary, and the company says it will work
with whatever hardware/software platforms its customers have
available, and with whatever video channels customers want to
offer in addition to the 270+ existing channels it offers.
“The marketplace has tremendous interest in IPTV,” Patterson
says. “The technology and the cost have come down to
where more and more people can…make a business out of it,
including universities, PCOs, master-planned communities,
CATV providers and military bases. An IPTV solution allows
you to be competitive, offer new services, increase your revenues,
and be on a level playing field. With an IPTV package
you can pretty much offer anything as applications become
available – like VoD, which is common now. Our relationship
with Power & Tel has allowed us to deliver the strongest solution
to the telco and cable markets.”
According to Patterson, IPTV is already superior to RF
video, with robust applications and middleware and far better
picture quality. “There are great customizable electronic
program guides, unlimited community channels and really
nice middleware packages that enhance the subscriber’s experience,”
he says.
Sharing equipment with
neighboring providers, and
operating the video services through
a joint venture, is another way
small telcos can reduce the costs of
providing IPTV to their customers.
With its major competitor, SES Americom, withdrawing
its IP-Prime solution from the marketplace this summer,
CSI hopes to be able to support the dozens of telcos that had
contracts with IP-Prime. CSI Digital and Power & Tel have
launched a transition program to assist IP-Prime customers
that need to re-acquire programming.
“SES Americom’s pullout from the IPTV market has made
little difference in our ability to serve our customers. CSI Digital’s
strong relationship with Avail Media ensures that our customers
receive the best in IPTV programming. They are singularly
committed to the growth and vitality of this industry,”
says Patterson. BBP
About the Author
Masha can be reached at masha@broadbandproperties.com.
The Fiber-to-the-Home Council, the IMCC and
Broadband Properties Magazine
Congratulate
For becoming an Enhanced Gold Sponsor at the
2009 Broadband Properties Summit.
For more information on AT&T Connected
Communities, visit www.att.com.
You are cordially invited to come see
AT&T at the upcoming
April 27 – 29, 2009
Hyatt Regency DFW • Dallas, TX
New Business Models For Fiber Communities
To Exhibit or Sponsor, contact: Irene Prescott at
irene@broadbandproperties.com, or call 316-733-9122.
& For other inquiries, call 877-588-1649,
or visit www.bbpmag.com
January/February 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 67