I Want My IPTV

SBC previewed its forthcoming IPTV service at the show this week, and die-hard TV junkie that I am, I want it.

The platform will let you get all the channels--including local networks--that you want, in standard and high-def, and will likely serve up some packages you can mix and match that go beyond all the sports channels in the world or the full set of HBO or Showtime movie channels.

You could, for instance, get 10 history channels or 10 kids channels to round out your basic offering, according to your particular interests. Lea Ann Champion, Senior Executive Vice President for SBC's IP Operations and Services says that it will also be possible to serve up a greater variety of video-on-demand options. That means you might have the entire library of the Biography channel to choose from on a Sunday afternoon, or be able to tune in to any show from Cartoon Networks vault o' toons whenever you want. You'd even have a selection of games available to rent any time you wished.

And all this will come directly to your TV set via a familiar set top box with DVR function, plus hooks into the Internet and your home network so you can shuttle content around your home.

Of course there's a catch: SBC needs to complete its fiber to the neighborhood roll out to get pipes wide enough to handle all this traffic. Right now, SBC DSL services max out at about 6 megabits per second for downloads, and about 256 kilobits per second on upload--to adequately serve HDTV and multiple TV streams, the new pipes will be able to handle about 20 to 25 mbps for downloads and about 1 mbps for uploads. The company plans to reach 18 million households--about half the total number in its coverage area--at the end of three years and will launch the service in select areas as early fourth quarter of this year.

The demo SBC put together looked impressive. The program guide in particular gave you a nice picture in picture preview as you surf through the grid, and there's the possibility that you could get a p-in-p preview for every channel that the grid displays on the screen. Because you can have "virtual tuners" instead of being limited to a number of physical tuners in a box, you can get those various images simultaneously. Sports fans would appreciate another application of that trick: multiple angles for a game onscreen at the same time where you could, say, focus on a batter and a pitcher close up and keep an eye on the runner on third base, call up stats or scores from other games going on, and more. You also get one-button programming for recording shows from the grid.

They've partnered with Microsoft so the user interface has some similarities to what you'd see with Media Center PCs. Eventually, you will be able to seamlessly pull content from Media Centers to your IPTV. For the initial launch, however, it's likely you'll only be able to playback your photos or music, not video.

Eventually, you should be able to get telephone services as well, which means that on top of regular phone services, you'll also be able to get a notification about a call as you watch TV, or be able to use your cell phone to program your DVR away from home. Such features seems to be in the works from competitors as well: Sprint demonstrated remote DVR programming through a cell phone it Scientific-Atlanta's booth at the show (Scientific Atlanta makes set top boxes for cable providers, among other things).