IPTV Special Supplement

TRIPLE-PLAY SUCCESS POSSIBLE WITH JETZ

For telcos and content providers looking for an end-to end IPTV solution, Jetz Broadband of Singapore offers its complete IPTV solution.

The company said that to really achieve triple-play success, service providers need to work with solution providers who understand the dynamics of delivering IPTV services to demanding subscribers. That is where Jetz Broadband’s Jetz solution comes in.

Said S Ramesh Babu, general manager for technology at Jetz Broadband: “While we can provide just the middleware, our strength flows from our capability and ability to offer a complete solution — from the headend to the end-user. So, even if a service provider seeks just the middleware part of our solution, it is backed by a complete knowledge and understanding of the complete infrastructure that goes into an IPTV network.”

Moreover, he said, Jetz is designed to work seamlessly over broadband or IP networks. It enables service providers to generate additional revenues by offering a host of  services, such as:

■ Satellite TV: This enables operators to provide live TV, pause-live TV and time-shift TV over broadband networks. In addition, the service provider can create channels, schedule programmes and so on, as well as offer features such as information bars, reminders and parental control.

■ Video-on-demand: Offers a full VoD service management. Subscribers can order movies without worries of being over-billed as the provider has a complete log of all movies viewed. In addition, the service provider can incorporate advertising and e-commerce features.

■ PVR: Jetz support network and/or hybrid personal video-recording. This enables subscribers to watch what they want and when they want, and also enables service
providers to record material for later relay at a more optimum time frame.

■ Home media: Strengthens the integration of the TV set into the home’s digital network. In other words, the user can play content — stored on the PC — through the TV/set-top-box (STB)/Thin Client.

■ Karaoke-on-demand: Enables the delivery of network-based karaoke content. This is a value addition for subscribers who can enjoy karaoke at home over the existing TV.

■ Gaming: Jetz supports gaming, enabling service providers to offer yet another value-addition service to their repertoire.

Moreover, Jetz ensures complete security in the billing chain with authentication (using pluggable authentication modules), secure encoding and decoding of stored programme
material, real-time audits, detailed logs and so on.

The Jetz solution comes in two basic set-ups. The first is the middleware — the complete software that interacts between the end-user and the content storage servers,
and that handles authentication, billing, encoding, decoding and more.

The second Jetz solution option offers a complete integrated solution from server to STB/Thin Client.

Jetz has a Linux-based operating system, built on open standards, and has a scalable architecture. Jetz Broadband chose the Linux OS because of the operating system’s
known stability and security.

Aside from offering a stable IPTV deployment solution, the Jetz system, whether just the middleware or the complete IPTV service solution, is competitively priced. Ramesh said Jetz uses industry-standard hardware for greater compatibility, lower cost of ownership as well as a greater ease of maintenance and upgradeability. “In short, Jetz is international quality at non-international prices,” he added.

Jetz is also easy to set up, although the timeline to install is relative. “It could take a day or several months, it really depends on so many other factors which service providers are fully aware of,” explained Ramesh.

The solution could also integrate well with third-party systems such as Optibase or Tandberg encoders, Amino, Kreatel and ADI STBs as well as Thin Clients such as VXL.

Ramesh said, in the less than one year of its existence, Jetz has already been supplied to several customers, such as India’s Ministry of Defence where “unfortunately, because of non-disclosure agreements, we cannot give more details”. Jetz is also being used in the hospitality industry to provide guests with pay-per-view and VoD services.

Most importantly, from the IPTV point of view, Jetz was used in the roll-out of a major South Asian telecom service provider’s broadband services. APB