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Even as the Indian television watcher is showing reluctance in embracing direct to home television, moves are already afoot to take the good old TV to the next level. And the push is coming from the telecommunications industry.
Germany's Siemens Communications Group is in talks with five of the biggest telecom service providers in India -- Tata Telecom, Reliance Infocomm, Bharti Televentures, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd -- to introduce a new service that offers a host of entertainment solutions delivered on normal television sets through broadband internet.
Termed IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), the service offers, apart from the regular TV watching, home entertainment solutions like video or music on demand, video telephony, SMS/MMS, e-mail, Internet surfing, gaming, voice over IP and the facility to watch a programme at any chosen time.
The other requirement, apart from a broadband connection, would be a set top box. "In India, discussions are going on. Every one is interested in north India. Our local company in India can take this worldwide solution and make it Indian," said Andreas Mueller-Schubert, president, fixed networks solutions,of Siemens.
Recently, Siemens arranged visits by potential partners to its "competence" centre in Vienna and other reference sites to display the new service offerings, which the company believes, can solve the problem of declining voice-based revenues faced by telecom operators the world over. Once a partnership is forged, it would take three-four months to roll out the service.
The company, which today announced its partnership with wireline operator Shanghai Telecom for home entertainment solutions, expects a huge new market to open up, particularly in Asia.
According to its own study, China will account for 25 per cent of the anticipated IPTV subscribers by 2010, while the Asia Pacific region excluding China will corner another 30 per cent, leaving only 45 per cent for the rest of the world.
The new services can be a part of the existing broadband network of any operator, though there may be a need to deploy some dedicated equipment for these services.
In fact, Siemens is already in talks with two broadband service providers in India to upgrade their networks.
Acknowledging that set top boxes haven't really caught on in India either in the case of conditional access system (CAS) or DTH, Mueller-Schubert said: "The set top box is coupled to the network. Most of our customers will not be selling it. They will be renting it."
As of now, TV is considered the best interface since entertainment is consumed mainly in living rooms on TV and not PCs, which are associated more with the work environment.
Secondly, some people, especially the elderly, can be more open to using some services -- such as messaging -- on TV, a device they have seen all their lives. However, home entertainment solutions can also be delivered on PDAs or mobile phones.
The correspondent's trip to Shanghai was sponsored by Siemens.
