Viewers want to watch their favorite shows whenever they want, in the best quality available. They've also come to expect a wider variety of content to watch, as well as additional services and personalized information.
Today, buying, storing, and viewing multimedia content is easy thanks to advances in cloud computing, payment technologies, and licensing legislation. The US is a good indicator of what to expect in Europe.
Verizon's FiOS fiber bundle currently offers the fastest digital television in the US. In fact, fiber may even be overtaking traditional broadcast channels.Just as a 4K movie won't even fit on a Blu-ray disc, online distribution is clearly the future. The industry consortium UltraViolet, for example, allows users to buy and watch content anywhere.
Netflix, the world's leading internet television and video streaming network, is rumored to be opening offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. It will soon offer more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including Netflix original series, to over 30 million members in 40 countries. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on virtually any internet-connected screen.
An in-depth look at service delivery:
Of course, all these innovations and developments bring significant requirements with them. Today's cable TV and internet connections simply won't be able to accommodate the bandwidth demands this entails. Television still reaches our homes primarily through traditional, and often outdated, copper-based networks or coaxial cables. Too often, viewers are forced to choose between the immersive experience of a TV/home cinema and viewing on a laptop. Aging networks are limiting services and slowing the evolution of broadcasting. Repeated jittering and buffering mean dissatisfied customers.
No matter which company drives the next generation of video-on-demand and enhanced TV services, we can be sure that new models are coming. European operators and content providers need to act on this, especially in countries like Belgium, where there is almost no evidence of high-speed broadband being available in the future. This country's FTTH broadband penetration lags behind European leaders, with subscribers representing less than 1% of households*.
Although the government is promoting its “SuperFastBelgium” framework, based on a national FTTH network, progress remains extremely slow. The VDSL vectoring strategy of the national telecoms company Belgacom and Telenet’s DOCSIS cable solutions are only temporary fixes, which can only complement the limited FTTH rollout to a small degree.
A recent study by the German analyst firm WIK indicated that in just 10 years, almost half of German households will need a broadband connection capable of delivering speeds exceeding 170 Mbps – in both directions! And one of the main drivers of this expansion will be home video and entertainment. Another important aspect is quality of service. Consumers are unhappy when an action movie freezes during the most exciting scene, displaying the text "buffering," due to technical limitations causing a temporary reduction in bandwidth. For a top-notch entertainment experience, the familiar "up to" bandwidth offers will no longer suffice.
Many "experts" also overlook the fact that an individual user might be watching one program while recording another, or engaging in some other type of interaction. Furthermore, it's not uncommon for several members of the same household to view multiple content streams simultaneously. Just consider the home connection speed, which might be sufficient to watch a program at a reasonable quality.
Now, divide that by the number of people watching TV, gambling, using VoIP, listening to music, or sharing files over the internet on that single connection… As digital video content evolves into richer formats beyond high definition to enhance the user experience, and as TV becomes the central hub, the nervous system of the connected home, the demand for greater network infrastructure performance and capacity will grow accordingly. Only fiber to the home is capable of handling these demands, enabling everyone to enjoy free streaming content now and in the future.
The integration of broadband and transmission also supports new broadcasting services and business models, including targeted content and advertising suggestions, niche programming, on-demand content, and enhanced visibility of regional information. For network designers using passive optical network technology, this means less space is required in the central office and conduits, and reduced power requirements and technical complexity.
A solution for television today and tomorrow
Tomorrow's television can only reach its full potential if it's powered by fiber optics, the highest and most durable technology, future-proof, a reliable and cost-effective solution. FTTH offers the highest download and upload speeds. High and consistent bandwidth in fiber optic networks provides better audio and video quality, a large number of channels, less static and interference, interactive options, better protection against hackers, and more secure online transactions.
A recent study forecasts that the number of internet TV subscribers worldwide will exceed 106 million by next year**. New interactive ways of 'consuming' TV are driving increased convergence between the broadcasting and broadband worlds, and operators and content providers need to act on this. Advanced tools and solutions make it easier than ever to connect homes, blocks, and apartment buildings. Fiber optics offers high bandwidth, and in the future, significant upgrades can be made directly to existing equipment without replacing the fiber itself. In short, FTTH is the only solution capable of supporting any future development in home entertainment.
*FTTH Market Overview 2012, IDATE for the FTTH Council Europe, February 2013
**2014 Global IPTV Market Forecast, RNCOS
Author: By Nadia Babaali, Communications Director of the FTTH Council Europe
