Is Telecom about to launch an IPTV product?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Is Telecom about to launch an IPTV product?

steve98

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#127013 26-Jul-2013 17:25

I saw a couple of ads in the paper today that have got me thinking. (Yes, it hurt).

Telecom are going hard-out to promote VDSL at the moment, and they have also entered the market with very aggressive pricing (which is unlike them) that barely raises the bill at all, making taking it up a no-brainer for their existing customers, and are requiring splitters to be installed. I notice that they are also currently offering a $150 account credit when you buy a LG Smart TV (saw it on a Smiths City ad).

Which leads me to thinking... why would Telecom A) be in such a rabid craze to get all their users on far higher speeds so quickly that they're practically giving it away, B) be so worried about the impact of poor quality wiring that they're selling splitter installs and bundling in a modem for just $99, and C) be helping and encouraging their customers to splash out on a shiny new smart TV?

Could it be that Telecom has an IP TV product coming out? I think this answers all three of those questions. If you were about to unleash some kind of IPTV product, wouldn't you want to make sure that your existing user base already had the speeds, quality wiring and TV to make launching it a success?

It could be as simple as them planning to zero-rate and partner with the football premiership streaming app, but that seems too specialised. Could Netflix be coming, with Telecom as a partner for zero-rated traffic? Or something produced in-house?

Just some random thoughts, but it really does feel like there is a reason that Telecom are doing these things. Anyone got any thoughts about this?

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#866724 26-Jul-2013 17:25

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steve98

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#866734 26-Jul-2013 17:29

Not to mention how very cinematic those new ads are.

NonprayingMantis

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#866764 26-Jul-2013 18:20

Well in today's herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/mood-of-the-boardroom/news/article.cfm?c_id=602&objectid=10902493

Telecom Digital Ventures has been launched to scope services and opportunities. "We only announced the formation of digital ventures two months ago. The time of internet- delivered video is here. We used to talk about it endlessly, pre 2008, but the network couldn't handle it, the access wasn't there, getting from the broadband modem to TV was a big a problem and (you were) up against a strong player - Sky."

Around the world it is getting more common that mainstream content is starting to be delivered predominantly by the internet. Netflix is over 30 per cent of the evening internet traffic in the US. "We are obviously looking at it and thinking there is enough evidence to say the time is right for us to be a player. There are huge chunks of the population who never watch TV. My teenage boys never watch TV; they watch everything on their computer."

So read into that what you will, but if they only started looking at it two months ago you can bet anything is going to be some way away - 6 months at an absolute minimum..

steve98

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#866766 26-Jul-2013 18:31

I didn't see that article but the quote you've pulled out all but confirms it to me. Like you say, it may be a wee while away but you don't make those kind of noises unless you're intending to move that way. This is pretty exciting. I really hope it's Netflix.

plambrechtsen

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#866815 26-Jul-2013 19:55

The football isn't going to be zero rated. All of that stuff is going to be served up via akamai from what I believe and thus can't be easily zero rated.

telcoguy

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#866858 26-Jul-2013 21:55

I reckon we can't tar Telecom with the (old) brush of a vertically intergrated network owner anymore.

It's got a new CEO, less staff and an apparent focus on winning rather than conceeding share. So I'd put all of the above down to competition, a willingness to succeed and a much better understanding of what customers want.

But an IPTV service would be pretty cool (if it had anything good to watch!)

Zeon

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#866887 26-Jul-2013 23:04

Seriously can see this being another flop. A Telco is a telco.....

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AppleJackXD

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#866929 27-Jul-2013 00:28

I never watch tv anymore haven't really since 2009... YouTube and Putlocker are my TV now. An official nz netflix would be perfecto : )

sbiddle

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#866964 27-Jul-2013 08:10

FYI the wiring requirements for VDSL2 are dictated by Chorus, not Telecom.

A dedicated jack or master filter is required for optimal performance. Under the previous Chorus up front pricing model some ISP's chose not to make this mandatory and customers opted out because of the cost which resulted in sub standard performance.

The new change makes wiring mandatory but covers this with a monthly fee.

NonprayingMantis

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#867002 27-Jul-2013 11:29

Also, netflix have launched in lots of other countries and never once partnered with an isp.

Even if they (netfli) do launch here, you shouldn't get your hopes up about the content looking like the USA content. Every netflix service outside of the states has a vastly smaller catalogue. But still, it would be a cool service nonetheless.

Kirdog

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#867011 27-Jul-2013 11:56

In Russia TVs are almost dead.

Everything downloading from torrents and every tv show is available there. Aslo we have internal networks with every ethernet based ISP.

So when you connected with this ISP, you getting Ethernet cable with speed 100 mbps or 1000, full duplex, symmetric. You pay only for internet access (20-50 USD per month), and you have network access for free with no limited traffic.

Internal network working as big LAN. 10000 to 1million users. Every user can open website, file server, gaming portal, DC++ hub or something else. We have around 100 DC++ hubs, and people even don't go to the internet, they just searching for media trough applications like "strong DC/ FlyLink CD and etc." and download what they need for free with speed 10 MB/s or 100 MB/s.

Basically your PC becomes to full media center:
1) TV (download via DC, or you can watch TV via LAN) (no advertisement, if you download it)
2) Radio (Heaps of network online radio, retranslated usual radio to the network)
3) Music (download via DC)
4) Gaming (heaps of network servers, non steam, non genue and etc) with ping 1-6 ms
5) A lot of local "facebooks"
6) FTP and many many other services, which user creates, and ISP sometimes pay to them for this services, if services become popular.

Thats creates piracy problem, but who cares about it in Russia:D.

When i came to NZ, it was a small shock for me, completely different ISP structures and rules. :)

But internal ISP network in NZ for users will be cool, tv shows downloading, gaming, exchanging without piracy. But with ADSLs and assymetric connections its not possible at all.

Also i'm completely sure, that NZ ISP will not support this amount of traffic for IPTV, networks are not ready for it and southern cross cable(international internet link for NZ) at capacity limit now.

Sorry about my English guys :>

linw

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#867057 27-Jul-2013 14:35

Interesting post, Kirdog.

myfullflavour

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#867066 27-Jul-2013 14:54

Kirdog: Also i'm completely sure, that NZ ISP will not support this amount of traffic for IPTV, networks are not ready for it and southern cross cable(international internet link for NZ) at capacity limit now.

Where on earth do you get this idea?

1) Southern Cross Cable at capacity? Ah, no.
2) Networks are not ready for it? Have you heard of UFB?

Kirdog

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#867068 27-Jul-2013 15:06

myfullflavour:
Kirdog: Also i'm completely sure, that NZ ISP will not support this amount of traffic for IPTV, networks are not ready for it and southern cross cable(international internet link for NZ) at capacity limit now.

Where on earth do you get this idea?

1) Southern Cross Cable at capacity? Ah, no.
2) Networks are not ready for it? Have you heard of UFB?

Multiply number of users on traffic for IPTV.

Load = 10 Mbps(minimum) continuous stream * number of users.

Now people don't download a lot of stuff from Internet, and networks are not loaded by huge amount of traffic.

UFB? LOL i even cant get VDSL at my home and i'm not at rural area, and my real upload speed is 650-700 kpbs, i'm lucky to get max download speed 0.9 MB/sec.

IPTV in Russia is free and its 1080p quality and requires 25 Mbps minimum speed. SO?

Sorry about my English guys :>

sbiddle

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#867077 27-Jul-2013 15:43

Kirdog:
But internal ISP network in NZ for users will be cool, tv shows downloading, gaming, exchanging without piracy. But with ADSLs and assymetric connections its not possible at all.

Also i'm completely sure, that NZ ISP will not support this amount of traffic for IPTV, networks are not ready for it and southern cross cable(international internet link for NZ) at capacity limit now.

Every mass market last mile technology is asymmetrical - whether this be ADSL2+, VDSL2 or GPON UFB services. SXC is also nowhere near capacity, and it is pretty much a moot point anyway as a service such as Netflix launching in NZ would be hosted by a global CDN, which would probably be hosted in Sydney. Capacity to Australia isn't a problem, especially with the new cable being built.

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