[opendtv] Re: Multichannel News: Comcast Slates Q3 Rollout of ‘Instant TV’
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 07:33:28 -0400
On Jul 28, 2017, at 8:03 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And even more interesting news! This time, Comcast with a new IPTV offering,
although not for everyone (yet). This is why I think the FCC push to allow
for third party traditional MVPD-style STBs was unnecessary, and
legacy-thinking.
It was not legacy thinking Bert. It was the kind of mischief the FCC can get
into thanks to the Title II decision. They were trying to extend the mandate to
unbundle MVPD STBs to defining and regulating Internet connected TV devices.
We agree - the FCC should not be involved in this - the marketplace finally
resolved the MVPD STB monopoly.
And this:
"Notably, Instant TV will be sold in Comcast’s traditional cable footprint.
Comcast has repeatedly stressed that the economics of an out-of-footprint OTT
offering don’t add up, even though it has been locking in rights to
distribute some programming on an OTT basis."
Yeah right, I'm not convinced. It's the "even though" phrase that makes
**all** the difference. My take, such ideas are very much in the works. "The
economics" change as your competition changes its modus operandi.
And furthermore, like Cox, Comcast is also rolling out Gigabit service over
DOCSIS 3.1. (Verizon has too, over FiOS, but no talk of using any DSL G.fast
alternative.)
What's not to like? Things are progressing as they should.
Cox is already offering such services - my son subscribes to one. He gets
broadband and a handful of digital channels that he watches via his gaming PC.
He also subscribes to HBO Go.
Remember my recent comment that Michael Powell is now the CEO of the rebranded
National Cable Television Association - The Internet and Television
Association?
We are going to see more blurring of the lines in terms of where the content is
actually hosted and bundled as everything migrates to IP carriage. And it is
all about "The Deals."
There is a very good reason that out-of-footprint services are going to be
problematic moving forward, and it is not just a question of obtaining the
rights. The issue is being close to the edge where much of the OTT content will
eventually be hosted. Comcast will not have access to all of the edge servers
hosted by Cox here in Gainesville - if I buy broadband from Cox, much of what I
watch may be hosted on the servers co-located with Cox, just as in-footprint
Comcast customers will access servers collocated at Comcast head ends.
That being said, both companies have regional VOD servers for PPView movies,
and dedicated interconnects back to their head ends. This is probably why
Comcast may be able to sell some content everywhere if they get national
rights. That is, both Cox and Comcast may compete with Apple's iTunes and
Amazon Prime in the market for sale and rental of movies.
All this raises the issue of interconnections to these edge servers. The
established CDN business model can help - for example, Akamai has edge servers
here in Gainesville. But many national services like Netflix are moving from
CDNs to their own networks, with co-located edge servers at ISP head ends.
The issue still comes down to the "route" to my home for the IP streams. It
will flow through whatever ISP service I use, back to co-located servers at my
ISP and via LANs and WANs that connect to other edge servers in my market,
regional servers, national and international servers.
A free and open marketplace is the best way to promote a neutral
interconnection system. FCC regulation of interconnections and interconnect
rates under Title II was a step backwards.
Regards
Craig
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