Search the Directory
Home
Archive
Features
Events Diary
Glossary
Links
About Us
Advertise
Press Releases






16,000 industry execs receive our Daily News.
Register here to join them
Sample Newsletter

 

Features

Free subscription
The industry's best reporters and commentators bring you their views and analysis of the world of future TV.


Cover Story - Chain Reaction
 May/June 2005

Asia Watch - Going DTH in India
May/June 2005

Broadband - The Long and Winding Road
May/June 2005

US Cable Operators: It's all about the Bundle
May/June 2005

Review - Content to Travel
May/June 2005

IPTV - Telecom Video
May/June 2005

Wireless Watch
May/June 2005

 


 XDSL
iMagicTV - enabling TV via IP
June/July 2001
John Rand, Senior Director European Operations at iMagicTV explains to advanced-televisio.com how the Canadian software company was established in 1997 to provide the software infrastructure which enables telephone companies and service providers to deliver and manage interactive digital television services and media-on-demand solutions over high-speed, multimedia, IP networks.

It's main software product allows telephone companies and other service providers to offer subscribers digital television over a range of high-speed broadband networks including ADSL, VDSL, Ethernet and fibre to the home (FTTH) technologies. The company has been up and running for three years, and operating in the UK for the last two years, "therefore we know what the market expects, and the culture of the telcos," explains Rand (left).

The reason for the company's understanding of the telco culture is that it is itself an offshoot of the New Brunswick, Canada, telco NBTel. Reaction from European telecos has been described as very favourable, with the company in discussions with telcos throughout the continent. For example, the Kingston Communications interactive TV operation (KIT) in Kingston upon Hull, UK, is using iMagic technology in its iTV roll out. (KIT report)

It is the company's DTV Manager which is used to provision subscribers, delivering interactive TV and media-on-demand services as well what the company describes as a cost-effective, managed solution for service providers. DTV Manager leverages the service provider's existing broadband network infrastructure to help quickly deliver new programming options to consumers, managing content, and interfacing with the teleco's business systems, such as CRM and SMS billing systems and network management.

For consumers, DTV Manager can operate via a set top box or a personal computer allowing them to surf through thousands of programming options, using its own iPG (interactive programme guide) to tailor the screen to the platform used (eg TV, VOD, internet, email, walled garden ecommerce). iMagicTV is therefore designed to provide a single source of information and entertainment in the home, branded by the telco. And, by subscribing to telephone, television, Internet and email services from one vendor, billing can be streamlined and integrated into one invoice. Customers are also given the ability to self-provision their account, changing channel line ups and later the ability to change packages will be added.

Functionality includes enabling consumers to:
*customise their channel line up and subscribe to the channels they want from a potentially unlimited number of channels
*browse the Internet and check e-mail
*watch true, broadcast TV from their personal computer
*watch pay-per-view movies instantly without having to make a phone
call to customer service
*choose programs with point-and-click ease using an interactive
program guide
*access interactive channels such as live Internet auctions
*watch digital-quality Hollywood movies on demand
*listen to digital music channel;
and
*customise viewing permissions to restrict access to sensitive programming.

It will be possible in the future for service providers to include personal video recording services from the network in their offering to their subscribers. As an example, this includes the capability to record and store multiple, simultaneous programmes, thereby scheduling forward seven days on the IPG or recording a programme while watching.

In the Kingston case, on its bank of nCUBE servers. "The operator would probably specify a certain number of hours storage per customer," explains Rand, adding, "business models are yet to be defined, therefore the limitations are more likely to be financial rather than technical.

The system is designed to integrate into a telco's existing business environment and systems to help them become full service providers. DTV Manager itself is based on IP and uses xDSL and other high-speed broadband technologies to turn copper telephone lines into high-speed digital connections.

For example, service providers can:
*offer virtually unlimited channels, combinations of channels and tailored packages to the consumer
*add or remove channel packages without the need for a service call
*remotely detect and diagnose customer and network problems and restart consumer set-top boxes from the main office site eliminating the need for service calls, saving the service provider time and money
*integrate new services into existing administrative and billing
systems; and
*introduce new interactive services easily, including e-commerce, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, and Web-based email.

"Broadcasting speed depends upon the system and customer requirements, so we can broadcast MPEG 1 at 1 Mbps, but more normally its MPEG 2 at 3.8Mbps - which is governed by restrictions dictated by the studios rather than technical restrictions. ADSL delivers 6 Mbps to 7 Mbps and this is therefore adequate. If greater return path bandwidth was required for video conferencing (say) then that could be provided."
It is strictly for core services, with media-rich applications such as t-commerce and video on demand as an add-on. This is something that the operator is expected to provide, with iMagicTV simply handling the technology.

By default usage is recorded, and patterns can be analysed without identifying the customer. The ADSL return path is also used for the user provisioning.

Another service is pcVu which is used to receive broadcast TV on a PC with no additional hardware - so sports or news could be viewed while working on a PC, or allow a second device to view in the home.

The main benefits of the iMagic solutions are the same as those for ADSL itself - speed of deployment with low deployment cost. "And the fact that it is available here, now and proven," adds Rand.

Another current customer is Telenor in Norway which is curently conducting a market trial to 300 users - 200 on DSL and 100 on LMDS. As a market trial, the main purpose is to identify which services offered to customers are actually used and valued. The return path is being used for interactivity, thus it is seen as a true DSL offering. The company also has other trials and installations in Europe which are not currently being disclosed.

The company is now marketing the service globally, and Rand explains that the company is , "primarily targeting customers who are new to content delivery, especially telcos, but also companies with new fibre networks. We believe we are unique in what we do."

The company is standards based and all the systems are DVB compliant, with MHP systems still under discussion. The system works on Riscos and OS9 operating systems, but can be ported to 'any other customer on request'. (Riscos was the system used by Acorn, which was used in a lot of trials, and therefore when Kingston needed a proven working system it chose iMagicTV using Riscos working on a Pace set top.

The company went public in November last year, and has since shifted from a purely software company to a solutions provider and consultant to take into account the need to integrate its knowledge of each component in the system, what's needed, which architectures, and the head-end specifications.
Back