Checked out Reliance IPTV!

[Praks]

LOL, Finally Mr Ambani has got time towards IPTV & Broadband access other then vegetables shops.

 

[meaculpa]

Vegetable shops is Mukesh...IPTV/ BB are with Anil

 

[sundar_milo]

Well i personally think that IPTV has the potential to be the next big thing.Because in DTH you dont have the VOD feature and in future people would definetely like to watch TV as THEY like.The number of broadband connections would increase as IPTV connections increase,obviously .And TRAI would support this more than anything in competition to IPTV.Competitions between ISPs would increase by 2009 for IPTV and one ISP gonna win for sure.Only Reliance or BSNL can win the market.We just bought Dish TV now and if BSNL launches IPTV with same or extra bouquet of channels here in chennai maybe we'll move on as technology invades

 

[meaculpa]

Hmm..actually DTH does have VOD (though I agree its not true VOD with the potential you would see on IPTV). What we're seeing in India is just a fraction of what DTH technology is capable of. With better STBs, wider range of content, DTH has potential to be a much more exciting service than it is today.I agree with you that IPTV will come into its own as a serious alternative only much further on. It basically depends on who will be able to offer a more attractive content package. I would say that any of the telcos with a foot in DTH space (Airtel or Reliance) would have a good chance - if they are able to get their existing content on DTH platform + additional exclusive channels onto their IPTV Offering. BSNL...unless they take a huge initiative on content, I'm not so sure. I'm not too impressed with what IOL broadband has been dishing out till now.

 

[amish]

i am interested in knowing if IPTV can work on comp directly (w/o STB) somehow. logically it seems possible with say a USB card (card inserted in STB) reader and proper software (the one embeded in STB)

 

[netfreak]

Even USB is not required. IPTV protocols are public and PC based clients are available, sadly no client is free. Its not populer since mostly developers working on IPTV stack are the only ones who need them.

 

[amish]

USB not reqd? dont STB require some card to be inserted to recv channels? with comp may be u atleast need to read card once (mostly thru USB card reader) and create raw image file.

 

[blr_p]

IPTV would be a good driver for broadband growth. More ppl will want tv instead of fast connections. If IPTV takes off, it can only be good for the net in India.So once the iptv takes off, then there is a good reason to upgrade/invest in more capable hardware, fatter pipes etc. I thought broadband would precede it but i think it will happen the other way around.DTH is only for small towns with poor infrastructure, which would be a big part of the country no doubt. But in the big cities IPTV will have the advantage.What i would like to know is what is the bandwidth requirement atm for DTH, how much data can the satellite stream one way ?

 

[netfreak]

USB not reqd? dont STB require some card to be inserted to recv channels?

That card stores credentials, these credentials can be supplied by PC as well. You are right you will need someone to read it once for you. I think STB reapir shops should be willing to do that.

What i would like to know is what is the bandwidth requirement atm for DTH, how much data can the satellite stream one way ?

transmitting 40 'Free to Air' channels require 155 mbps bandwidth with VCD like quality.

In practice, Dish TV, Tata Sky seem to use higher compression [and lower quality] so their requirements might be lesser.

 

[blr_p]

Thanks for that

Tata seems to be broadcasting a lot more than 40 channels from this list.