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INDUSTRY NEWS


22 May 2008

IPTV operators must offer whole-home networking solutions


With home networking becoming increasingly common place over the next five years, Internet Protocol television (IPTV) providers need to offer wider home-networking solutions rather than stand-alone pay-TV services if they are to penetrate the consumer market.

That is according to analyst Gartner, which explained that IPTV operators need to entice consumers with bundled services in a market that is dominated by incumbent satellite operators and traditional terrestrial free-to-air network broadcasters.

Paul O'Donovan, analyst at Gartner, said: "Although today's newest, leading-edge PC-based home networks are able to deliver high-quality video and audio around the home, most consumer electronic products… remain stubbornly isolated in their ability to communicate with other equipment."

He went on to explain that IPTV providers and consumer electronics manufacturers need to expand home-networking options as the internet becomes a source for video consumption by a wider audience.

Gartner concluded that, as network functionality becomes commonplace in consumer electronics, the PC will no longer be a vital part of the home network in the future.

Meanwhile, new figures from the Office of National Statistics have revealed this week that over 90 per cent of UK internet connections are now broadband, with just 8.4 per cent of internet users still accessing the web over a dial-up connection.

© 2006 Adfero Ltd.

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