Presentation Abstracts

IPTV - the Revolution is Here

The opening presentation to the IPTV Conference will be made by the well-known industry guru, John Varney. John will provide a unique insight of how IPTV can change the traditional landscape of broadcasting, and how industry and the public must change to meet this revolution affecting broadband, cable and satellite services. John will also lay down some challenges to the Conference's industry speakers asking them to provide comprehensive answers and explanations about IPTV's actual deployment and delivery capabilities.

John Varney, CEO, Maximum Clarity, UK

Deployment Stream

How will the Consumer get High-Bandwidth IP Into the Home

For many consumers today broadband is synonymous with ADSL. This session will examine the following questions. How does it work? What does the filter actually filter and why do we need to be close to the exchange? What can it deliver? Internet at high speed but what speed does it offer and what services can it support? Delivery issues and its future? Is there a way to increase the performance and if so what needs to be done and what will be the cost?

Stephen Lowe, Chairman, Broadband Wireless Association Ltd, UK

Getting the TV Experience over IP: Today's Approaches, Issues and Solutions

This session will focus on the approach to providing the TV experience delivered over IP, predominately from those defined by standards. It will cover the approaches to achieving the goal of a TV experience, including the architectures and the potential players in such a system. This presentation will discuss the issues encountered when delivering content (and related data), such as reliability, scalability and bandwidth. Finally it will investigate the techniques currently in use to build a working system, such as delivery protocols, use of multicasting and peer-to-peer technologies.

Dr Kevin Murray, Systems Architect, NDS, UK

IPTV on the Move

We are moving from a verbal to a visual world in communications, and from static to mobile and personal platforms for our entertainment. The reliability of broadband wireless access for customers in their homes or on the move, and the ability to meet customer requirements going forward, is key for the overall success of IPTV as a mobile service. There are already established options for mobile multimedia broadcasts using IP - including DVB-H, MediaFLO and WiMAX; nevertheless, new higher resolution handheld terminals and more user-generated content on the Web, may open an interesting niche market for mobile IPTV.

Mike Short, 02 Vice President, Research and Development Group Technology, O2 plc, UK

IPTV in the Home

This presentation will look at how IP will successfully get from the broadband modem to the TV screen, focusing on Ethernet, wireless, powerline technologies. Mark will answer questions about centralised storage (the “home hub”) versus distributed – aka thin versus thick clients, as well as analysing how devices talk to each other – and how much skill the consumer will require. Finally this session will address the complex security and rights issues surrounding these areas.

Mark Jeffrey, Standards Architect, European Media Policy, Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation, Switzerland

Service Delivery

Delivering the TV Experience Over the Internet

How will the BBC live in the emerging world where content delivery over the Internet moves to centre stage. Anthony will provide an insight as to how the BBC and content providers can meet the challenge of delivering a TV experience over the Internet (sometime referred to as un-mediated IPTV) as a mass-market service. How does this fit with existing obligations to deliver the same experience on managed IPTV platforms, such as Home Choice and BT Vision.

Anthony Rose, Head of Digital Media Technology, BBC, UK

Managed versus Un-Managed Models – Delivering Broadband Video

How will the necessary QoS be achieved? Will it be through new technology in the IP layer (such as next generation compression and/or data prioritisation) or the continued increase in bandwidth to the home to the point where it becomes a utility? In this session we will look at how the quality issues may be overcome.

Dr William Cooper, Founder and Principal Consultant, informitv.com, UK

Delivering Video over the Internet - who pays?

With content owners rushing to push their content at consumers and rapidly increasing consumer demand for internet video this session will look at who pays for the bandwidth, or, more accurately, the quality of service required to deliver it. If content is delivered over the top, is there an incentive for ISPs to invest in the infrastructure required? What business models will evolve to create a successful and perhaps more open market for broadband television?

Bill Scott, Solution Leader, Digital Consumer, IBM Global Business Services, US

IPTV - Market, Regulatory Trends and Policy Options in Europe

This presentation will look at IPTV commercial offers and regulation in the five largest EU Member States: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. It will cover broadcast and on-demand video services provided over both fixed networks (xDSL, FTTH) and wireless networks (3G, DVB-H, DMB). It will summarise the latest regulatory trends, at EU level and at national level, that affect the provision of these services both in terms of network infrastructure and content.

James Thomson, Principal Consultant, Cullen International

I Want My IPTV

Television is undergoing a rapid transformation that was initially sparked some 13 years ago by the adoption of digital video compression. Now the transformation has turned into a revolution as powerful personalized services (based on Unicast High Definition) become a reality. IPTV is fundamentally the provision of video programming targeted at a television display device using internet protocols to provide addressable delivery. It has been widely adopted initially by DSL service providers around the world and will become ubiquitous as it becomes viable in other forms of broadband delivery such as cable and wireless. The underpinning ecosystem that supports this powerful personalized experience stretches from the source to the three screens of consumption. This presentation develops ideas based on the real life experience that Harmonic has gained with more than 50 leading IPTV service providers around the world and how the end to end ecosystem from content acquisition to playout through next generation Set Top Boxes is deployed. It also looks at the technological, commercial and even legal challenges that must be tackled by operators to achieve sustained commercial success in this space.

David Price, Vice President, Product Marketing and Business Development, Harmonic Inc. USA

Meeting the Content Challenge

Rapid developments in digital technology and ferocious competition for audiences have provoked a major challenge for content providers. As the key 16-34 demographic spends increasing time on Internet services, with less time spent on individual programme segments, long established genres, programming strategies and durations come into question. The migration of advertising revenue away from conventional channels is a symptom of what some regard as a changed paradigm in media consumption. Viewing for some users is becoming more like browsing, with less time spent on individual elements and an appetite for a more games-like interactive experience. The need now seems to be for a kind of intelligent content that can "listen" to users as well as tell stories to them. Broadband has enabled personalised services in which linear video, social networking and personal blogs provide a highly immersive environment, together with a sense of personal ownership in which users can also generate content of their own. Creating compelling content is now the major challenge. The opportunities are enormous - Internet delivered services can have international audiences - but so is the competition. Interactivity is an important feature of new Internet, IPTV and mobile video services, but, creating interactive content presents challenges for authors and production teams used to conventional television workflows. This session looks at the content challenge in a world of IPTV, HD, mobile and cross media services and the tools that are being developed to support it.

Paul Kafno, Managing Director, MD Thames, UK

Q&A Session

The final session of the event will place industry experts and leading vendor organisations in the spotlight to discuss their views for the future of IPTV. Always full of contentious debate this is the perfect finale to consider multiple ways the future might play out, and maybe some you haven't thought about before.