April 13, 2007

Arming the Enemy

By Jim Barthold

Some might think that cable staples like Comcast Networks, Fox Cable Networks, NBC Universal, Showtime Networks and Turner Broadcasting System have stepped over onto the dark side by joining the SES Americom IP-PRIME IPTV package. SES Americom is not among them.

"You have to take a different view in some ways and realize these are very multi-dimensional companies, and they have substantial video assets that distribute a multi-platform already," said Brian McGuirk, president of media and enterprise services at SES Americom.

Speaking politically correctly, Bill Squadron, senior vice president of media and partnerships at SES Americom, said that IP-PRIME is being positioned as something that makes IP video service available to any operator that wants to get into the business.

"Having a full menu of programming is key to it, but really it's having the full ecosystem with all the partners we have from Cisco to S-A (Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company) and so forth to make it possible to offer a turnkey service with tremendous efficiencies," Squadron said.

Of course, while anyone can play, it's likely the telcos, which are looking more seriously at IPTV, will get there first, and IP-PRIME will help them with a channel lineup of 350 of the more popular cable plays.

"The telco market is greenfield," said McGuirk. "They're investing in IP, so that is our focus today."

SES Americom will take the programming - which includes channels like E! Entertainment, Versus, The Golf Channel, 10 Fox cable network channels, CNBC, Bravo, USA Network, CNN, TNT and a slew of others - convert it from MPEG-2 from the traditional 16 satellites across the cable arc, encode it into IP, and deliver it "ready-to-play" via satellite, said McGuirk.

IP-PRIME is being trialed by the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), which supports rural utilities offering services to millions of households. National commercial deployment is scheduled for this year.

- Jim Barthold