“Big Data” Big Player in Pay-TV’s Future

One of the themes out of IBC and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo last month was that the future of pay-TV relies not just on traditional broadband and video services but on how operators can harness “Big Data” to create new opportunities for services that are aligned with customer needs.

From improved search and discovery functionalities to IoT applications in healthcare and home automation, the ability of operators to gather, store, process and sometimes discard data is a key to making services more relevant to consumers, driving increases in usage and value propositions.

For pay-TV operators, creating a successful big data strategy requires overcoming a variety of challenges, including the need to:

·      Ensure security of data at all points, including servers, in the network and within the home;

·      Minimize the computational and network costs involved in collecting, transmitting and analyzing data in the cloud;

·      Prevent the explosion of data from congesting networks, especially as operators deliver more and more higher bandwidth 4K UHD content; and

·      Identify ways to keep storage requirements and costs – including power – from spiraling out of control.

In a new white paper entitled “Big Data: Expanding the Horizons of Pay-TV,” Alticast studies the opportunities operators have to capitalize on the potential of big data, and addresses steps the industry can take to unlock future services and revenue.

Android in the Pay-TV Market

The growing footprint of Android in mobile devices has two implications for pay-TV operators:  the development of an enormous Android ecosystem that can create and support applications, as well as the increased availability of smartphone semiconductors.  In this video, John Carlucci, President and CTO of Alticast US, discusses how the pay-TV industry can expedite availability of advanced services by pulling Android technology, tools and applications into the television space.

IoT – The Next Big Thing for Cable?

As expected, I heard about a lot of cutting-edge technologies at Cable-Tec.  While – as you might expect – the Cloud was a hot topic, what really struck me were a few whispers about the Internet-of-Things (IoT).  While nothing imminent nor distinct was mentioned, it made me glad to know I’m not the only one pondering what a world with tens of billions of connected devices could mean for operators.

Yes, I wrote tens of billions.

The numbers don’t come from me, but from the analysts at Gartner and ABI Research.  ABI expects there to be more than 30 billion devices wirelessly connected to the IoT by 2020, while Gartner is more conservative projecting a still massive 26 billion devices in 2020.

I may be biased, but I think cable is in an excellent position to both facilitate and profit handsomely from the impending IoT revolution.

From its humble beginnings, cable has invested in technology.  We’ve seen one-way networks suitable only for the delivery of analog programming transformed into two-way, fiber-rich “smart pipes” with the capacity to deliver a plethora of digital video, telephony, high-speed data and even home security services to consumers and businesses.  Unlike satellite operators, cable is continually finding new ways to leverage its networks to deliver its own services, rather than charge smarter guys for leasing its bandwidth.

What’s more, when you think about some of the key requirements of the IoT, you realize that cable is indeed well positioned.  The need for reliable two-way bandwidth is obvious, and likely you recognize that the robust quality of service (QoS) capabilities IoT will require are already proven in cable.  Additionally, security is of paramount concern, and clearly cable has decades of experience securely delivering content to millions of subscribers.  Then consider that cable passes tens of millions of homes and businesses across the country and that operators are rapidly expanding their deployments of public Wi-Fi hotspots and you’ll probably come to the same conclusion I have:  IoT represents a tremendous opportunity for operators.

Clearly we’re at the beginning of a revolution, with a lot of work first needing to be done by standards bodies, the vendor community, regulators, operators, chip companies and many others, but IoT is coming and it’s good news for operators.

Alticast at SCTE

If you happen to be at Cable-Tec Expo this week, make sure to stop by the Alticast pedestal in the BTR Diamond Technology Review pavilion to see a demonstration of our 4 diamond awarded HDMI Media Express.