Today's audience, leveraging the benefits of the internet, wants to watch their favorite shows anytime and expects extra services, content, and information.
Viewers are often forced to choose between the collective TV/home cinema experience or watching on a laptop—albeit with additional services and a wider range of options. The rise of cloud computing and advances in payment and licensing technologies mean that consumers can conveniently purchase and store vast, personalized media libraries—but they will need to monitor their purchases via PC or smartphone.
According to a recent study* on internet television, the number of internet TV subscribers worldwide is expected to exceed 106 million in 2014. Another report** indicates that internet-connected televisions worldwide will outsell game consoles this year. However, today's cable TV and internet connections simply won't be able to meet the bandwidth demands this will create.
Fiber to the Home (FTTH): A Future-Proof Solution.
Clearly, there is a great need to increase network capacity to maximize the potential of today's television. A cost-effective, future-proof solution is needed to take television to the next level and accommodate new technologies like 3D Ultra HD.
Fiber to the Home (FTTH) offers exactly that. Furthermore, optical fibers allow for higher cable density than copper, meaning more data and more channels. Light signals do not interfere like electrical signals, resulting in less static and minor interference. Optical signals are also more difficult to hack. Fiber-to-the-home networks can deliver the highest speeds, even when using standard Ethernet or coaxial cable for the last few meters of the chain. Optical technology not only boasts high-quality audio and video and an unlimited number of channels, but also offers interactivity and enables other additional features.
Multiple channels can be viewed and recorded simultaneously, and video on demand is easily accessible. FTTH offers the service, flexibility, and reliability needed to support all kinds of exciting new broadcasting business models. FTTH allows for the delivery of data-rich, real-time content to multiple users in a single home. This includes wireless distribution to mobile devices such as iPads and other tablets. Since FTTH is a "fixed-line" technology, the identity of each consumer is known to the provider. This implies a high level of security for online transactions, such as pay television. Furthermore, user profiles can be created, taking into account content suggestions and targeted advertising. Broadcasters and advertisers can now think of television as a two-way channel, through which viewers can offer feedback and suggestions.
New user services
offer endless possibilities, just considering real-time integration of televisions and game consoles, or high-definition and multi-user video chat sessions. Forward-thinking companies are already leading the way. Google TV, for example, combines television, online gaming, internet browsing, and social networking into a single experience. Last year, the number of registered iTunes users exceeded 500 million. Apple TV is a digital media receiver that plays content purchased by the 125 million users of the iTunes Store. The BBC's success iPlayer, Netflix, and Hulu demonstrate that there is a large global audience hungry for this type of programming. However, as these technologies become more widespread, the strain on available bandwidth also increases. With traditional broadband and cable networks, programs can fluctuate and pause repeatedly to store data, leading to numerous customer complaints.
New interactive ways of 'consuming' television are driving the increasing convergence between the broadcast and broadband worlds, and operators and content providers need to address this. When it comes to broadband, FTTH is the cutting edge of technology—a reliable, durable, and cost-effective solution. Advanced tools and solutions make connecting homes, blocks, and apartment buildings easier than ever. Fiber optics offers ample bandwidth, and in the future, significant upgrades can be made directly to the terminal equipment without needing to replace the fiber itself. In short, the television of the future will only realize its full potential if it relies on fiber optics. Enhanced.
* Global IPTV Market Forecast to 2014, RNCOS
** IPTV: A Global Analysis - 4th edition, Informa Telecoms & Media
By Hartwig Tauber, Director General of FTTH Council Europe
