Last mile connectivity is limiting IPTV in India

Support Soft helps service providers install, verify, and provision IPTV service. After the service is live, the company helps service provider support the customer effectively.

In an interaction with Idhries Ahmad of CIOL, Shahnawaz Kadavil, Country Manager, SupportSoft, India, sheds light on the technical challenges in deploying IPTV architecture. Shahnawaz also talks about drivers and challenges for IPTV as a technology in India.

CIOL: What is SupportSoft doing in the IPTV space?

Shahnawaz: SupportSoft provides Real-Time Service Management (RTSM) software designed to ease enterprise technical support, provide for IT endpoint automation and enable triple play service automation for VoIP, IPTV, video or broadband delivery by service providers to their customers.  

Simply put, our software has the ability to solve technical problems associated with delivering and servicing IP-based products and services - simply and automatically.

Broadband and the content service are the two most important aspects of this. We have partnerships with leading CPE vendors through our Digital 360 Interoperability Lab.

We collaborate with these vendors in order to make it easier to implement our service automation software for our digital service provider customers.

CIOL: Installing IPTV technology seems to be a complex proposition. What do you see as the major challenges in deploying IPTV architecture

Shahnawaz: IPTV installation for consumers is a 7 step process comprising many different systems and include Policy administration and set up, Order management, Physical connection, Device activation, Subscriber authentication, Service configuration and Service verification.

The complexity of this has its challenges in terms of deploying the IPTV architecture, Installation for consumers is one of the biggest challenges that this brings forth. At SupportSoft we believe that Zero Touch Installation Automation is one of the most critical factors in providing superior IPTV services and enabling growth of IPTV.

CIOL: How do you see India waking to IPTV as a concept? Do you see traction for IPTV among Indian subscribers?

The major drivers for IPTV has been around increasing ARPU for service providers and having one "service provider" for multiple services for consumers. In addition premium services, such as the ability to view new movies on demand can be easily enabled by IPTV.

Having said that there are many factors hampering IPTV deployments - the pains surrounding IPTV installation and ongoing maintenance of service, is one of the big factors. For example, in a Supportsoft analysis we found that while 10% of subscribers might use IPTV, around 50% of calls to the tech support were IPTV related!

In India, while the backbone infrastructure is fairly robust the last mile connectivity to the consumer is limited. Further access to content in an effective manner to match the incumbent cable networks could be another challenge.  In addition, there is a need for zero touch installation technology to enable a retail model for fast and trouble free installation.

For example consumers today have to rely on an external technician to install the service and this could take upto a week, while with zero touch installation technology from vendors such as SupportSoft, consumers could install the service by themselves the same day.  

Other major factors is related to the low base of broadband subscribers today, lower broadband speeds that will not satisfactorily support a service of this nature and the existing reasonably well developed cable and satellite networks in place.

CIOL: How do you see the progress of Indian Telco's in the IPTV space

Shahnawaz: Indian Telco's are moving somewhat slowly in the IPTV space. However, one must take into consideration the fact that broadband uptake has itself not been quite upto projections and typically the trend has been for consumers to adopt IPTV after experiencing a basic broadband service in other countries.

However, in India this can also been seen from a different perspective, where one can have this IPTV service ahead of a broadband service since the requirement here is for a cheaper television (and television penetration is far higher) versus needing a personal computer.