Service Provider

Digitization: The first step towards Advanced, Synchronized, Personalized TV Viewing

Aunindo Ghosh
June 30, 2015

We are all seeing the Indian television industry changing rapidly, following the Government’s mandate to digitize cable TV by introducing set-top boxes (STBs). From a single national broadcaster providing limited channels, to hundreds of channels watched in standard and high definition, with advanced experiences like video-on-demand (VoD), personal video recorders (PVRs) and the recently-launched Ultra HD – the industry has come a long way. However, in a country as vast as ours, bringing the entire population of analogue TV viewers to the world of advanced digital TV is still an ambitious project.

Alongside digitization, subscriber demand for media-rich home entertainment services is driving innovation and new revenue opportunities in the STB industry. With internet penetration hitting 300 million in India at a 32 % Y-o-Y growth rate, the stage is set for social TV, premium VOD and internet-based over-the-top (OTT) video services to a range of devices. The STB market in India is estimated to grow at an annual rate of 29.3 % by 2015* This, coupled with modernization of networks, creates a unique opportunity for broadband and broadcast-based advanced TV services within the same bundle.

Videoscape Express is Cisco’s primary solution for pay-TV operators in emerging markets like India. It is a pre-integrated package within the “Videoscape Infinite” umbrella, enabling rapid deployment of new digital pay-TV services, ranging from the standard definition STB for basic digitalization and revenue protection to high definition, hybrid and IP-driven advanced STBs for subscriber retention and revenue enhancement. The solution provides a gradual upgrade path to advanced two-way, on-demand, interactive services, multiscreen and cloud based, all available on Cisco’s Videoscape platform through Infinite Home, Infinite Video & Infinite DVR solutions.

Nearly 75 million set-top boxes are required for the completion of Phases III and IV of cable TV digitization and this has been a huge growth driver for the electronics manufacturing industry in India. Cisco technology touches over 40 million TV homes in India, and we are working with both local and international STB manufacturers to actively contribute in this initiative.

Digitization to me, while a worthy goal in itself – is also a first step in embracing IP based cloud driven video technologies for the Indian viewers of tomorrow.

*Source – Frost & Sullivan

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