TV for the green age: reuse and simplify

Karen Liu, VP Components

Building B, renamed Sezmi, comes out of stealth mode with a wholesale service that not only merges broadcast with on-demand and Internet content but also cleverly uses hybrid delivery combining over-the-air broadcast and IP broadband.

On 1 May 2008 the company announced that its novel end-to-end service will be entering initial technical trials with plans to move to a pilot service by the end of the year. The service will deliver a seamless mix of broadcast TV and cable content as well as on-demand movies, DVR service, clickable ads and content portals. This follows on the heels of announcements last month that Harris built the network operations center and Sun is providing the streaming server.

Sezmi expects their service to be particularly appealing to DSL and mobile service providers seeking to add a TV service to their bundle without investing in ultra-high bandwidth access or video infrastructure. It seeks to appeal to the consumer through ease of use.

Over-the-air broadcast: if it ain't broke, don't fix it

The cleverest part of the whole scheme is reuse of over-the-air broadcast infrastructure for broadcast TV content. The company provides innovative CPE including a media receiver that uses cell phone technology to boost reception to pay-TV quality, storage for 1,000 hours of content, and the IP connection for on-demand/navigation requests and delivery of unicast content.

This move goes one better than Verizon's replication of cable hybrid fibre co-ax on the third fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) wavelength. Cable content is also pushed onto the TV antenna as a private broadcast. The company expects that these two categories account for 85% of usage, based on US viewing patterns today. Internet and true on-demand content traffic (as opposed to time-shifted) comes over the IP connection.

You can't get everything...

The off-loading of popular content eases the overall network burden relative to IPTV but it doesn't help the subscriber whose family simultaneously wants to watch multiple pieces of on-demand HD content. Sezmi is consciously not targeting the high-end customer (early adopters of FTTH) but instead the mass market including analog cable subscribers and over-the-top only viewers who will be forced to rethink their TV service when analog broadcast is terminated in February 2009. As a wholesale service provider, Sezmi says consumer-level pricing will be determined by the broadband provider but Sezmi is aiming for half the price of comparable digital cable or satellite bundles including HD and DVR.

..but there's something for everyone - even broadcasters

The company touts its personalization of TV including a button on the remote control to identify individual viewers. However, the real novelty is its support for broadcasters. The interface design supports channel branding, including portals for local broadcasters to provide additional local content. In one mode the viewer can segue from a requested show to whatever is broadcasting currently from the same network.

Broadcaster and content provider partners are treated equally, with both receiving a portion of the subscription fee, maintaining their own brand visibility and increasing their cost per impression. In addition the recommendation/personalization engine can support targeted advertising.

The broadband service provider is presumed to be one which has otherwise been unable to provide pay-TV, due to inadequate bandwidth for IPTV, yet desires more brand visibility than reselling a satellite service. The use of peer-to-peer technology in the end-user device may help offload the network further.

Kudos for reuse and simplicity

Some consumers in the US this decade have been increasingly attracted to the concept of simplicity and reclaiming of old buildings and goods. More recently, environmental concerns have heightened. The TV & video market - except for the rise of cleaning shows - has not reflected this zeitgeist. Sezmi's approach is appealing because it 'recycles' the existing broadcasting infrastructure while adding modern amenities and conveniences, much like new apartments built from old schools and mills. Perhaps they should have kept 'building' as part of their name.

Karen Liu is responsible for market analysis of enabling technologies in video, telecom and datacom. She has worked on a number of custom advisory projects on a range of disruptive technologies, including the first detailed forecast for ATCA platforms. Recent coverage areas include high-speed optical components, IPTV and CATV. Karen has eight years of experience in analysis and over 20 years of experience in networking.