December 14, 2006

Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

By Jim Barthold

Digital video recorders (DVRs) are becoming about the most popular function a service provider can offer to video subscribers, but they don't come cheap. DVR-enabled set-tops equipped can run more than $500 – a whole lot of money to invest in a piece of equipment placed into a subscriber's home entertainment center.

That's why some operators are looking at using a network-based DVR to put the majority of the storage and functionality outside the house and drastically reduce the cost of the box. The trade-off, of course, is that a network-based DVR consumes valuable bandwidth in the network.

"It does take a chunk out of your network," said Ed Heuck, CTO at Hargray Communications.

Heuck knows about conserving bandwidth. Just this week, the multi-service operator said it would use Ciena's DWDM technology to boost its bandwidth for metro Ethernet and IPTV services in Hilton Head, SC. While not specifically targeting network DVRs as a future use for that added bandwidth – Ciena's gear effectively lets Hargray use the same fiber to deliver 400 Gb of throughput where before only 2.5 Gb existed before - the subject did come up.

A bandwidth hog

"Network-based DVR, as opposed to just video-on-demand, could result in five to 10 times more usage and therefore require five to 10 times more bandwidth in the transport network," said Mitch Auster, senior director of service provider solutions marketing at Ciena.

That's why Heuck is cautious about committing to the idea.

"That's something we're looking at; we haven't done that yet," he said.

Still, he added, the possibilities are intriguing.

"We have to study how much bandwidth it's going to trade off because bandwidth obviously costs money, too, (but) when you start looking at that, it may be cheaper to do network DVR," he said. "As long as the box stays $525, $550 a pop, it's almost cheaper for us to do the network."

- Jim Barthold