| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: Your Internet connection is set to receive a huge speed boost, starting next year. Thanks to Singapore's next-generation broadband network masterplan, 66 per cent of homes by 2012 will have access to speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps). That is roughly 500 times today's average speed.
OpenNet - the SingTel-backed consortium responsible for building the infrastructure - has already started wiring homes. And Nucleus Connect, the StarHub-owned operations company responsible for the Internet routers and switches, is preparing to offer services.
We have been hearing about services that will take advantage of the new bandwidth, such as Nets payments, CashCard top-ups, video conferencing and telemedicine. These tools will supplement TV content from SingTel's mio TV, MediaCorp and StarHub. High-definition (HD) content will become more widespread, and three-dimensional (3D) TV programming is also on the horizon. All these new services will be provided by retail service providers (RSPs), according to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).
In spite of the tantalising prospect of these next-generation Web services, much of the publicity has focused on the network infrastructure outside homes, while precious little has been said about what will happen inside homes.
People are still wondering what exactly the network will mean for them. What devices will they need? How much will they cost? How many set-top boxes will be stacked up in their living rooms?
Today, you already need at least eight boxes - a mio TV box, a MediaCorp HD box, a StarHub cable box, etc - in addition to your DVD player, DVR, speakers, Internet router and modem. How much additional clutter will the new network entail?
The greatest gift from Nucleus Connect would be to deliver all of the above TV channels and new services via an integrated set-top box: One box to rule them all.
At the start of the new network project, there were high hopes for a single Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) box. There are at least three working groups at IDA studying this at the moment. But as the deadline approaches, the prospect of a single unifying device appears to be little more than a dream.
How did this happen? International standards for IPTV are not ready for the market yet. There are many proprietary standards to choose from, and no one standard will take care of TV channels while also offering a service such as telemedicine. Even if such a box were to be developed, it would probably be prohibitively expensive.
IDA's limits on bandwidth charges will not prevent Nucleus from charging more. There is also the question of StarHub's $500-million hybrid cable infrastructure that is offering more than 60 TV channels and 100 Mbps broadband.
Would the company migrate to the new IPTV box? Even if StarHub were willing, any such migration would take at least five years. There would also need to be a business incentive to consolidate services to a single box, such as more money from the Government.
Technically, mio TV migration should not be a problem, as it is a new service and the number of subscribers is low enough to write off SingTel's existing investment. MediaCorp currently rides on both platforms and migrating to IPTV wouldn't be a problem because of the "must-carry" status of its channels. But like StarHub, both SingTel and MediaCorp would still require incentives to consolidate their services into one interoperable box.
Meanwhile, public expectations are high for next-generation Web-enabled services. Are there RSPs that could provide such services at affordable prices?
Even if the answer is yes, it's possible that these RSPs wouldn't provide their services through one box. IDA and MDA's IDM group are banking heavily on open-access to enable even more imaginative services to be offered than those already proposed.
Presumably, open-access would mean that anyone who has a service to offer would be able to approach Nucleus to carry its services.
However, this could lead to a nightmare scenario where individual service providers would install their own boxes in homes. Imagine a niche IPTV box for each niche service. And RSPs will face a high barrier to entry if they have to install devices in homes.
Said Mr Lim Chin Siang, director of technology with MDA: "One integrated set top box in the home is an ideal solution, and technically feasible.
But there are other considerations - cost, content protection, applications, and the need for different operators to differentiate themselves. To arrive at the best possible solution, MDA and IDA are in the midst of consulting with the industry."
The fast-paced consumer electronics sector might not be able to wait too long. In the past, service providers led the market.
Now, manufacturers and consumers set the pace. HDTV illustrates this perfectly. Years before HDTV services became available, HDTV sets were already in the market.
A quick survey of Asean countries will reveal that HDTV sets are selling like hotcakes, even in the absence of HDTV services. Those same manufacturers are seriously thinking about marketing TV sets with IPTV technology and broadband connections.
Once plugged in, home viewers will have access to Web content, such as the multitude of videos on YouTube. As such, the new network's operating company has the unenviable task of ensuring that whatever it introduces will not become obsolete, and to start operations as quickly as possible.
The writer has more than 30 years of experience in media technologies. He is currently a consultant with the Technology Business Development team at MediaCorp Pte Ltd.
- TODAY/yb
|
