Delivering Video Over IP Networks

By Pankaj Gupta

April 16, 2007

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Imagine you run a company that builds cars. You've been building cars for decades, striving to deliver better quality and reliability at ever-more-affordable prices, and in many ways, you've mastered the practice. Then one day, your company's board of directors decides that from now on, you're going to make jet planes instead. Even though you've never attempted anything like this before, you've got to find a way to make it work. In fact, the very survival of your company depends not only on building a plane, but also on finding a way to face off against a slate of highly experienced aircraft manufacturers and come out on top. Sound like a significant challenge? This is what traditional wireline service providers around the world are facing right now as they make the transition from basic voice and data services to consumer video.

For years, conventional service providers have built successful businesses around providing basic access for voice and data services for consumers. But to succeed in the consumer video market, they must become "experience providers" capable of providing the full range of voice, video, and data services to their customers anywhere, anytime. They must do more than simply provide a video service comparable to other options on the market: They must deliver better content, more personalization, and higher-quality multimedia experiences than their competitors. They also must prepare for the emergence of "Video 2.0," when converged networks will be used for business communications and entertainment in the same way consumers use the Internet today. Just as the Internet evolved from a repository of static published content to a communal, fully interactive exchange, so tomorrow's converged networks will need to support a wide range of user-generated content, interactive communities, and video-based applications that go far beyond the passive viewing of video entertainment.

Delivering broadcast and multicast video, on-demand media, and personalized content with a consistently high quality of experience (QoE) is no small task.

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