New norms for content delivery network (CDN) are likely to be framed shortly for IPTV (internet protocol television) players.
NEW DELHI: New norms for content delivery network (CDN) are likely to be framed shortly for IPTV (internet protocol television) players.
Instant TRP (television rating point), to determine the popularity of a TV channel, is among the highlights of the system. This can be done through a channel aggregator, who enables online and offline voting by viewers.
“The studio computer can send a TRP trigger, which will cause all set-top boxes to automatically send information about the usage of that channel. Thus, the computer can immediately get data on how many set-top box users are watching the channels and how many are recording it,” a note prepared by the technical wing of the communications ministry has said.
At present, TRP data for television channels is released on a weekly basis, by aggregating the readings showed by a few thousand peoplemeters across TV homes
in India.
The Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), which is the technical wing of the Department of Telecommunications, would have a meeting with the stakeholders by the end of this year on drafting CDN rules.
Sourcing content and framework for it has been a major issue for companies wanting to launch IPTV services.
Another point that has been stressed on under CDN is that set-top boxes should be available to customers off-the-shelf, independent of the access service provider, in a manner similar to GSM (global systems for mobile communications) handsets.
With the deployment of CDN, an IPTV subscriber “should be able to have similar confidence in set-top boxes as he has on mobile instruments in terms of its long-term value brought through inter-operability,” according to TEC.
CDN implies that content should be delivered seamlessly over IP networks through set-top box on TV or on a PC directly. In sync with international practice, TEC wants the CDN system to be operator agnostic and access agnostic.
On an average, an IPTV platform is expected to have anything between 100 and 200 channels.
In August, the government made IPTV a lawful broadcasting operation.
State-owned telcos Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) commercially launched their IPTV services a few months ago. But, they have been facing problems in accessing content from registered broadcasters in the absence of a policy framework. Among the private players, Bharti and Reliance Communications have conducted their IPTV pilots across many cities.
IPTV refers to a distribution platform using high-speed internet to offer TV channels along with many interactive and value-added services. For instance, an IPTV subscriber can pause a live show, record it and watch
it later.
m_nivedita@dnaindia.net
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