At the Iowa Telephone Association’s Video Workshop in Des Moines, Roger Musick of Innovative Systems proclaimed that IPTV has been, “over promised and under delivered”. He suggested that there have been too many vendors in the IPTV chain, which has complicated the rollout and maintenance of IPTV networks. Echoing what many independent have said, Musick said the vendor community has not spent enough time figuring out how to keep IPTV systems up and running.
He spoke of Direct Broadcast Satellite and of their big advantages of having access to better content at lower pricing, as compared to what independent telcos can get. He pointed out that the current limitations of DBS will go away with the deployment of hybrid RF/IP set-tops. He mentioned how the telcos’ fat-pipes will enable over-the-top, niche competitors, as well as the so-called long-tail content.
He suggested one advantage independent telcos have is their inherent local nature. Local content and VOD is something they have that DBS cannot offer. Other ways independent telcos can exploit their network and location advantage include:
