MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Back in the late 90s when the telecoms industry first developed broadband technologies such as DSL, it was the wealth of opportunities that the technology would create that really excited service providers.
Over the past two decades broadband access has provided a good revenue source and has been highly profitable for many, but service providers have never really been able to take full advantage of the other opportunities broadband access provides.
IPTV and VoD have been a success for some, but certainly from a profitability point of view, will not be an option for all. Many of the other opportunities often highlighted, such as online music, gaming, and even technical support and content back up have also been taken up by other players and therefore have become fiercely competitive markets.
Michael Philpott, Practice Leader, says: “One issue that service providers will have to tackle if they are to get back in the game, is a more prominent marketing channel into the consumer home”.
“Often the main points of customer contact for the broadband service provider is when the customer first signs up from the broadband service, and when something goes wrong -– with only the odd e-mail flyer in-between,” says Philpott, based in London.
“Operators can try and do take advantage of these main points of contact, but to be really successful, they need to be looking for innovative and eye-catching ways of opening up more consistent communication channels with their customer base.”
Ovum is pleased to see that such innovation is starting to enter the market. Those few service providers that still have a successful Internet portal, are starting to innovate around that as a way of entertaining, helping, communication with and up-selling services to existing clients.
Others, who do not have a very successful portal, are starting to experiment with free services, to gain the initial traction, and then looking for ways to further up sell services on top of the initial offering.
One such pilot by a tier one player in the US found that such a strategy increased its marketing success rate over traditional methods by 200 percent, as well as gaining:
* A significant increase in VAS awareness –- 615 percent increase in web traffic for the music service.
* An increase in service uptake –- 55 percent increase in new security subscriptions.
* A decrease in service churn –- 20 percent decrease in security service churn.
Such innovation has been a long time in coming, but it is certainly not too late, and operators will need to continue to innovate in both the services and applications they offer, and in how they market and deliver those services, if they are to successfully grow consumer revenues in the long term.
Showing posts with label IPTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPTV. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Internet TV subscribers to rise by over 50 percent in 2009
EL SEGUNDO, USA: The global IPTV market withstood the worst of the worldwide economic storm during the last six months, putting it on track to achieve more than 50 percent subscriber growth in 2009, according to iSuppli Corp.
In the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, IPTV added 2.5 million and 2.3 million subscribers worldwide, respectively. Global IPTV subscribers are set to rise to 33.3 million subscribers at the end of 2009, up 56 percent from 21.3 million in 2008.
The figure presents iSuppli’s global IPTV subscriber forecast for the period of 2006 through 2013.
Source: iSuppli, USA
“With the economy in the dumps and revenue growth from voice services having evaporated, global telcos are turning to IPTV to drive their growth,” said Lee Ratliff, senior analyst for broadband and digital home at iSuppli. “The good news is that this strategy is paying off, with IPTV subscribers and revenue rising.”
In 2010, IPTV subscribers will rise another 56 percent to reach 52 million. By 2013, the number of subscribers will double, reaching 115.6 million.
“With the huge numbers of subscribers signing on during the next five years, telcos are rapidly gearing up for IPTV and triple-play services, as well as working on how they can make them more attractive to current and future subscribers,” Ratliff added.
IPTV revenue is growing even faster than subscribers thanks to increasing ARPU. Revenues are expected to increase to $58.2 billion by 2013, with a CAGR of 44.4 percent from just $9.3 billion in 2008.
Regional growth untapped
At the end of the first quarter of 2009, nearly half of global IPTV subscribers, or 49 percent, were located in Europe.
Other regions, including North America and Asia/Pacific, are relatively far along in their IPTV deployment, but the subscriber growth opportunity is huge because these regions—including Europe—have an IPTV penetration of the telco broadband subscriber base of less than 15 percent.
This means there are ample opportunities for telcos to expand their business for the next five years and beyond.
But the next great IPTV frontier may be in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, India, Russia and Latin America, where IPTV’s penetration of the telco broadband subscriber base is less than 1 percent. These regions will be slower to ramp up their subscribers due to limited broadband infrastructures and, in some case, regulatory issues.
In the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, IPTV added 2.5 million and 2.3 million subscribers worldwide, respectively. Global IPTV subscribers are set to rise to 33.3 million subscribers at the end of 2009, up 56 percent from 21.3 million in 2008.
The figure presents iSuppli’s global IPTV subscriber forecast for the period of 2006 through 2013.
Source: iSuppli, USA“With the economy in the dumps and revenue growth from voice services having evaporated, global telcos are turning to IPTV to drive their growth,” said Lee Ratliff, senior analyst for broadband and digital home at iSuppli. “The good news is that this strategy is paying off, with IPTV subscribers and revenue rising.”
In 2010, IPTV subscribers will rise another 56 percent to reach 52 million. By 2013, the number of subscribers will double, reaching 115.6 million.
“With the huge numbers of subscribers signing on during the next five years, telcos are rapidly gearing up for IPTV and triple-play services, as well as working on how they can make them more attractive to current and future subscribers,” Ratliff added.
IPTV revenue is growing even faster than subscribers thanks to increasing ARPU. Revenues are expected to increase to $58.2 billion by 2013, with a CAGR of 44.4 percent from just $9.3 billion in 2008.
Regional growth untapped
At the end of the first quarter of 2009, nearly half of global IPTV subscribers, or 49 percent, were located in Europe.
Other regions, including North America and Asia/Pacific, are relatively far along in their IPTV deployment, but the subscriber growth opportunity is huge because these regions—including Europe—have an IPTV penetration of the telco broadband subscriber base of less than 15 percent.
This means there are ample opportunities for telcos to expand their business for the next five years and beyond.
But the next great IPTV frontier may be in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, India, Russia and Latin America, where IPTV’s penetration of the telco broadband subscriber base is less than 1 percent. These regions will be slower to ramp up their subscribers due to limited broadband infrastructures and, in some case, regulatory issues.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
64mn IPTV subscribers by end of 2012
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "The Future of Triple-Play: Growth Opportunities, Key Challenges and Competitive Strategies" report to its offering.
Cable operations and fixed-line telecoms operators continue their battle over a superior share in the triple-play arena. However, mobile operators have shown their interest in seizing a piece of the market while satellite TV providers are also complementing their core services with fixed-line offerings.
The future of pure-play providers appears limited, as the credit crunch places further pressure on consumers to seek the most cost effective way of obtaining the services they need.
'The Future of Triple-Play: Growth opportunities, key challenges and competitive strategies' is a report that examines the market opportunities and challenges for triple-play services.
The report analyzes the market conditions that have driven the deployment of triple-play services, and the strategies employed by leading service providers. It identifies the challenges faced by companies, and also provides recommendations into how to best counter competitive threats, extend service portfolios, and boost revenue potential in this rapidly evolving market.
Key findings:
* The popularity of mobile telephony is expected to continue to rise over the next four years. There will be over 5.6 billion mobile connections worldwide by the end of 2013, a 68 percent increase over 2007.
* Mobile broadband will be a substitute for fixed-line services in markets where fixed-line infrastructure has not been widely deployed. There will be an estimated 258 million mobile broadband notebook users in 2014, with consumers accounting for almost 200 million of these connections.
* It is forecast that there will be 64 million IPTV subscribers by the end of 2012, an almost six fold increase over 2007 levels.
* The average consumer is not motivated by new technological offerings. Price is much more important to most than the availability of advanced services such as VOD, DVRs and high definition programming.
Cable operations and fixed-line telecoms operators continue their battle over a superior share in the triple-play arena. However, mobile operators have shown their interest in seizing a piece of the market while satellite TV providers are also complementing their core services with fixed-line offerings.
The future of pure-play providers appears limited, as the credit crunch places further pressure on consumers to seek the most cost effective way of obtaining the services they need.
'The Future of Triple-Play: Growth opportunities, key challenges and competitive strategies' is a report that examines the market opportunities and challenges for triple-play services.
The report analyzes the market conditions that have driven the deployment of triple-play services, and the strategies employed by leading service providers. It identifies the challenges faced by companies, and also provides recommendations into how to best counter competitive threats, extend service portfolios, and boost revenue potential in this rapidly evolving market.
Key findings:
* The popularity of mobile telephony is expected to continue to rise over the next four years. There will be over 5.6 billion mobile connections worldwide by the end of 2013, a 68 percent increase over 2007.
* Mobile broadband will be a substitute for fixed-line services in markets where fixed-line infrastructure has not been widely deployed. There will be an estimated 258 million mobile broadband notebook users in 2014, with consumers accounting for almost 200 million of these connections.
* It is forecast that there will be 64 million IPTV subscribers by the end of 2012, an almost six fold increase over 2007 levels.
* The average consumer is not motivated by new technological offerings. Price is much more important to most than the availability of advanced services such as VOD, DVRs and high definition programming.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Growth despite recession proves people need benefits of broadband
SINGAPORE: Broadband has become a necessity for people around the planet –despite the economic downturn. That’s the message delivered in Singapore today by Broadband Forum Chief Operating Officer Robin Mersh.
Mersh was giving a keynote address at the giant CommunicAsia conference and exhibition in Singapore, where more than 2,000 exhibitors were gathered to discuss and debate the latest issues surrounding telecom and broadcast technology.
“Broadband is no longer a luxury in the home –- it is a necessity -– and we are seeing that despite everything going on in their lives, people are depending on their broadband,” he said.
“This is an extremely positive sign for the industry, although we must not be complacent and the next quarter’s market penetration figures will give us further evidence, or otherwise, of the rise of the broadband phenomenon.”
Mersh backed his view by highlighting the latest statistics for broadband and IPTV which were published earlier in the week. He pointed out that 20 countries had grown their broadband by 10 percent or more, with India and China particularly showing potential. IPTV’s growth to 24 million lines was also helping broadband reach the next level.
He explained that while new technologies were coming onstream to support broadband, DSL remained stable and ADSL2+ had in fact seen the highest technology increase of all the access options.
Broadband lines in the world are now approaching 430 million. India experienced the biggest growth percentage at 13.4, while China added 4.8 million lines, to top more than 88 million lines.
Mersh told the audience of top ranking telecommunications figures from across Asia that for fast broadband rollout and effective network management, operators needed three things -– a single architecture across all transport options, a single WAN management protocol and common Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement specifications.
“The consumer doesn’t care how the service is delivered –- they just want to know it’s dependable and that they can buy their service with confidence,” said Mersh.
He explained that the Forum, which has around 200 of the world’s top operators and equipment and chipset vendors among its membership, focused its work on three main areas.
The first was the network, which included core, access aggregation and last mile options. The second was management specifications, which focussed on operational excellence, and the final area was remote management of the user, which spanned from digital homes, offices and cell towers.
He also called for standards bodies to follow their initiative in co-operating among themselves and highlighted the work the Forum recently completed in cooperation with 3GPP and the Femto Forum, which resulted in the first industry standard for Femto Access Point management.
Mersh was giving a keynote address at the giant CommunicAsia conference and exhibition in Singapore, where more than 2,000 exhibitors were gathered to discuss and debate the latest issues surrounding telecom and broadcast technology.
“Broadband is no longer a luxury in the home –- it is a necessity -– and we are seeing that despite everything going on in their lives, people are depending on their broadband,” he said.
“This is an extremely positive sign for the industry, although we must not be complacent and the next quarter’s market penetration figures will give us further evidence, or otherwise, of the rise of the broadband phenomenon.”
Mersh backed his view by highlighting the latest statistics for broadband and IPTV which were published earlier in the week. He pointed out that 20 countries had grown their broadband by 10 percent or more, with India and China particularly showing potential. IPTV’s growth to 24 million lines was also helping broadband reach the next level.
He explained that while new technologies were coming onstream to support broadband, DSL remained stable and ADSL2+ had in fact seen the highest technology increase of all the access options.
Broadband lines in the world are now approaching 430 million. India experienced the biggest growth percentage at 13.4, while China added 4.8 million lines, to top more than 88 million lines.
Mersh told the audience of top ranking telecommunications figures from across Asia that for fast broadband rollout and effective network management, operators needed three things -– a single architecture across all transport options, a single WAN management protocol and common Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement specifications.
“The consumer doesn’t care how the service is delivered –- they just want to know it’s dependable and that they can buy their service with confidence,” said Mersh.
He explained that the Forum, which has around 200 of the world’s top operators and equipment and chipset vendors among its membership, focused its work on three main areas.
The first was the network, which included core, access aggregation and last mile options. The second was management specifications, which focussed on operational excellence, and the final area was remote management of the user, which spanned from digital homes, offices and cell towers.
He also called for standards bodies to follow their initiative in co-operating among themselves and highlighted the work the Forum recently completed in cooperation with 3GPP and the Femto Forum, which resulted in the first industry standard for Femto Access Point management.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
IPTV in Latin America: Not so fast!
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has added the "IPTV in Latin America: Not So Fast" report to its offering.
IPTV will take a backseat to other pay-TV platforms as telcos seek alternative strategies to meet the significant market demand, according to this latest report.
IPTV in Latin America: Not So Fast examines the market for pay-TV services in general and IPTV in particular in Latin America. The 18-page report analyzes the regulatory hurdles faced by IPTV and the progress telcos are making in introducing various pay-TV services, as well as the various strategies they employ to make the most of the opportunity in the face of significant challenges.
The report cites more than 23 examples of pay-TV services and contains case studies of Telefónica and Telmex/América Móvil that investigate their respective pay-TV strategies across the region. In recent years, telcos around the world have developed an attraction to the idea of IPTV as a new revenue source and competitive instrument.
However, IPTV is simply not living up to expectations in Latin America. "Fewer than 0.1 percent of households in Latin America subscribed to IPTV at year-end 2008 and the technology had very few net additions during the year," notes Derek Medlin, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. "As the market has evolved, it has become evident that there is significant demand for pay-TV, which is pushing telcos to seek alternative strategies to meet this demand," he says. "However, the reality is that the struggles on the front end have severely crippled adoption so far; regulatory issues are blockading IPTV altogether, or at least leading to deployment delays," he adds.
Although pay-TV penetration remains anaemic relative to the adoption of pay-TV in other regions, the author believes this is due to a lack of supply rather than a lack of demand. "Recent initiatives from telcos and cable companies are catalyzing the market by thrusting a variety of pay-TV services into underpenetrated areas and market segments," says Medlin. "As a result, adoption is taking off, making the low penetration levels an indicator of the growth potential, especially when gauged against the levels of adoption reached in other regions," he explains.
"IPTV will have to take a backseat to other pay-TV platforms for the rest of the forecast period, becoming part of a lineup of pay-TV offerings rather than the sole telco service," Medlin adds. In the future, the author does not expect IPTV to break out of its niche until around 2012, when it will be approaching a 5 percent share of total pay-TV subscriptions. "Pyramid estimates that by 2014, the region will be home to more than 4.4 million IPTV subscriptions, which will reach 2.6 percent of all households," he says.
IPTV will take a backseat to other pay-TV platforms as telcos seek alternative strategies to meet the significant market demand, according to this latest report.
IPTV in Latin America: Not So Fast examines the market for pay-TV services in general and IPTV in particular in Latin America. The 18-page report analyzes the regulatory hurdles faced by IPTV and the progress telcos are making in introducing various pay-TV services, as well as the various strategies they employ to make the most of the opportunity in the face of significant challenges.
The report cites more than 23 examples of pay-TV services and contains case studies of Telefónica and Telmex/América Móvil that investigate their respective pay-TV strategies across the region. In recent years, telcos around the world have developed an attraction to the idea of IPTV as a new revenue source and competitive instrument.
However, IPTV is simply not living up to expectations in Latin America. "Fewer than 0.1 percent of households in Latin America subscribed to IPTV at year-end 2008 and the technology had very few net additions during the year," notes Derek Medlin, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. "As the market has evolved, it has become evident that there is significant demand for pay-TV, which is pushing telcos to seek alternative strategies to meet this demand," he says. "However, the reality is that the struggles on the front end have severely crippled adoption so far; regulatory issues are blockading IPTV altogether, or at least leading to deployment delays," he adds.
Although pay-TV penetration remains anaemic relative to the adoption of pay-TV in other regions, the author believes this is due to a lack of supply rather than a lack of demand. "Recent initiatives from telcos and cable companies are catalyzing the market by thrusting a variety of pay-TV services into underpenetrated areas and market segments," says Medlin. "As a result, adoption is taking off, making the low penetration levels an indicator of the growth potential, especially when gauged against the levels of adoption reached in other regions," he explains.
"IPTV will have to take a backseat to other pay-TV platforms for the rest of the forecast period, becoming part of a lineup of pay-TV offerings rather than the sole telco service," Medlin adds. In the future, the author does not expect IPTV to break out of its niche until around 2012, when it will be approaching a 5 percent share of total pay-TV subscriptions. "Pyramid estimates that by 2014, the region will be home to more than 4.4 million IPTV subscriptions, which will reach 2.6 percent of all households," he says.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Top 10 tech trends likely to make waves in 2008
It is quite a task to predict what the New Year has in store for us. My friend Radhika Nallayam at CIOL and I, present you a list of technology trends likely to make waves in 2008.
1. Greening of IT
Data centers of today are witnessing very high power consumption and cooling requirements. Skyrocketing energy consumption surely poses a challenge to the environment. Besides this, the hazardous effect of e-waste is also a major environmental concern in today’s IT sector. (It is estimated that more than 800 million PCs will be replaced during 2007 and 2012)
As a result, the IT world has started realizing the need for ‘greening of IT’ to minimize the harmful effects of energy expulsion from IT operations and data centers. (Green Data Center report from Symantec Corp. states that nearly three-fourths of respondents of the survey stated they have interest in adopting a strategic green data center initiative).
The ‘green IT’ movement has already succeeded in creating environmental responsibility among major IT vendors across the globe.
2. Is 2008 going to be the year of Linux?
It’s been years since we started talking about the ‘year of Linux’. Finally, good news for open source buffs? Well, we really can’t predict that. But, there is a hope that the coming time could be a real turning point in the history of open source, making 2008 the year of Linux on desktop. Though Linux will not be a direct replacement for Windows, we are definitely going to see a major increase in the number of end-users adopting Linux.
PC giant Dell, at the beginning of this year, gave us a positive sign by introducing Linux computers. A number of other vendors are also betting high on Linux. Ubuntu has already received recognition among mobile users and server market. Linux Desktop, though gradually, is gaining momentum. At this point in time, we can only wait and watch the game!
3. Will Vista be the OS to own?
When Microsoft launched Vista, Gartner’s analysts suggested ignoring the new operating system until 2008 and not to rush into upgrading. So, it’s time for us to rethink. Lots of users are still waiting for the first service pack to arrive before upgrading from Windows XP. And, hopefully, SP1 is likely to arrive in the beginning of 2008.
Vista definitely offers some advanced security feature and more polished interface. But due to some concerns related to application compatibility and more hardware requirements, consumers, till now, were reluctant to switch to Vista.
However, some recent surveys show that a lot of companies are now willing to upgrade to Vista. Microsoft expects Vista to be accountable for 85 percent of operating system sales in fiscal 2008 compared with 15 percent for Windows XP. Majority of the consumers will, sooner or later, have to migrate to Vista. Well, that could be in 2008.
4. IPTV sees big surge in popularity
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is already in spotlight. It has opened up new possibilities for consumers, service providers and content providers. From a mere technology concept, IPTV has completed the first stage and has become a real service. In some countries, it is almost in the mass-market stage. IPTV is considered to be one of the most highly visible services to emerge as part of the development of next-generation networks (NGN).
There are many more questions to be answered pertaining to the business model, pricing, packaging and the technology itself. But, the coming year is definitely going to see more developments in the IPTV space.
One thing worth mentioning, which may prove to be crucial for IPTV to reach its market potential, is the devlopments of standards for IPTV. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recently announced the first set of global standards for IPTV. So, there are definitely some good news for us. And, no doubt , as long as the demand for high-quality personalized content exists among the consumers, IPTV will not struggle to reach new horizons.
5. Will 802.11n arrive?
The 802.11n, the latest in the set of WLAN standards, comes with truly high speeds i.e. 4-5 times faster than 802.11g and fifty times faster than .11b! It also offers better operating distance comparing to the current wireless networks. Wow! This is really something the enterprises would love to invest in.
There is no doubt that 802.11n is well positioned to redefine wireless networking. But, would the new standard finally arrive in 2008? Ratification of the new standards is been delayed for quite a long time now and the users are really keen to see the faster version of Wi-Fi, without any more delay.
However, experts predict that ratification won’t happen overnight and it’s going to take some more time. Though some Wi-Fi vendors( Cisco, Aruba, Trapeze) have already launched 802.11n products, technology installations may happen only in the middle of 2008.
6. Short-range wireless technologies that will create a buzz
Short-range wireless technology is not just about Bluetooth anymore. New entrants like High-speed Bluetooth, Wireless USB and ZigBee are getting traction too. Demand for high data transfer rates has increased over the years with the increase in video and audio content on portable devices like mobile phones, laptops as well as on multimedia projectors and television sets.
Though high-speed Bluetooth is in its primary stage of development, it is expected to be 100 times faster than the current technology. This next-generation Bluetooth will hopefully hit the market in 2008.
Wireless USB is targeting 1Gbps throughput. Vendors have already introduced wireless USB hubs, adapters and laptops in the market. However, wide adoption of the technology depends on how soon it is going to be embedded into digital cameras, camcoders, MP3 players etc.
ZigBee is the wireless connection used by sensors and control devices. It is expected to find traction in commercial building automation in 2008.
7. No end in sight for high-definition (HD) war
Is the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD high-definition video formats never ending? Well, there, definitely, is an end. But that may not be in 2008 Analysts in the industry predict that the high-definition war may last for another year and a few months. There is a strong market position for both the standards currently and this makes it difficult to predict the winner.
Meanwhile, there has been no improvement in the sales of both the technologies this year as consumers still feel both Blu-ray and HD DVD are expensive.
On the other hand, Toshiba recently introduced comparatively low priced HD DVD players. This initiative definitely poses a challenge for Blu-Ray companies. To cope with this, they will have to cut down the hardware prices of Blu-ray. If that happens, the war will continue for some more time.
8. Shift from magnetic to solid-state hard drives
At present, the market is dominated by magnetic hard drives. But the future seems to be of solid-state hard drives as magnetic hard drives have limited data transfer speed. Solid-state hard drives are based on flash memory and is much faster memory solution. They also have advantages such as low noise and low power consumption. High pricing is the primary hindering factor for solid-state hard drives to become mainstream.
Major players like Seagate are betting high on solid-state technology and have plans to offer it next year. Solid-state hard discs are likely to be more popular in the laptop market. If prices fall down, we can see a slow shift happening from magnetic to solid-state hard drives in 2008.
9. Is 2008 going to be a banner year for wireless?
We no more worry about the clutter of wires. Offices have gone wireless. Cities are going wireless. All portable devices have embedded wireless technologies. We are moving fast towards a ‘wire-free’ world. So, 2008, beyond doubt, is going to see much more technology developments.
Though the ‘wireless’ world won’t be a true reality so soon, the need for seamless mobility and freedom is surely going to drive more wireless technology advancements.
The upcoming 802.11n will redefine enterprise networking in the coming year. Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) will tie fixed and mobile networks to deliver enhanced user experience. 2008 is expected to be the year of Mobile WiMax as well. Above all these, 2008 will probably witness open access to all networks, which in turn will open up more opportunities.
10. The ‘iPhone mania’ to continue
iPhone rates as the most memorable new product for 2007. Yes, it literally shook the mobile phone world in 2007. Now, doubtlessly, companies would love to follow Apple’s path by introducing similar products. So, 2008 is certainly going to see mobile phones with more and more web services and multimedia functionalities integrated into it. So, 2008 could very well be a year of ‘iPhone-like’ products from Apple’s rivals.
1. Greening of IT
Data centers of today are witnessing very high power consumption and cooling requirements. Skyrocketing energy consumption surely poses a challenge to the environment. Besides this, the hazardous effect of e-waste is also a major environmental concern in today’s IT sector. (It is estimated that more than 800 million PCs will be replaced during 2007 and 2012)
As a result, the IT world has started realizing the need for ‘greening of IT’ to minimize the harmful effects of energy expulsion from IT operations and data centers. (Green Data Center report from Symantec Corp. states that nearly three-fourths of respondents of the survey stated they have interest in adopting a strategic green data center initiative).
The ‘green IT’ movement has already succeeded in creating environmental responsibility among major IT vendors across the globe.
2. Is 2008 going to be the year of Linux?
It’s been years since we started talking about the ‘year of Linux’. Finally, good news for open source buffs? Well, we really can’t predict that. But, there is a hope that the coming time could be a real turning point in the history of open source, making 2008 the year of Linux on desktop. Though Linux will not be a direct replacement for Windows, we are definitely going to see a major increase in the number of end-users adopting Linux.
PC giant Dell, at the beginning of this year, gave us a positive sign by introducing Linux computers. A number of other vendors are also betting high on Linux. Ubuntu has already received recognition among mobile users and server market. Linux Desktop, though gradually, is gaining momentum. At this point in time, we can only wait and watch the game!
3. Will Vista be the OS to own?
When Microsoft launched Vista, Gartner’s analysts suggested ignoring the new operating system until 2008 and not to rush into upgrading. So, it’s time for us to rethink. Lots of users are still waiting for the first service pack to arrive before upgrading from Windows XP. And, hopefully, SP1 is likely to arrive in the beginning of 2008.
Vista definitely offers some advanced security feature and more polished interface. But due to some concerns related to application compatibility and more hardware requirements, consumers, till now, were reluctant to switch to Vista.
However, some recent surveys show that a lot of companies are now willing to upgrade to Vista. Microsoft expects Vista to be accountable for 85 percent of operating system sales in fiscal 2008 compared with 15 percent for Windows XP. Majority of the consumers will, sooner or later, have to migrate to Vista. Well, that could be in 2008.
4. IPTV sees big surge in popularity
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is already in spotlight. It has opened up new possibilities for consumers, service providers and content providers. From a mere technology concept, IPTV has completed the first stage and has become a real service. In some countries, it is almost in the mass-market stage. IPTV is considered to be one of the most highly visible services to emerge as part of the development of next-generation networks (NGN).
There are many more questions to be answered pertaining to the business model, pricing, packaging and the technology itself. But, the coming year is definitely going to see more developments in the IPTV space.
One thing worth mentioning, which may prove to be crucial for IPTV to reach its market potential, is the devlopments of standards for IPTV. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recently announced the first set of global standards for IPTV. So, there are definitely some good news for us. And, no doubt , as long as the demand for high-quality personalized content exists among the consumers, IPTV will not struggle to reach new horizons.
5. Will 802.11n arrive?
The 802.11n, the latest in the set of WLAN standards, comes with truly high speeds i.e. 4-5 times faster than 802.11g and fifty times faster than .11b! It also offers better operating distance comparing to the current wireless networks. Wow! This is really something the enterprises would love to invest in.
There is no doubt that 802.11n is well positioned to redefine wireless networking. But, would the new standard finally arrive in 2008? Ratification of the new standards is been delayed for quite a long time now and the users are really keen to see the faster version of Wi-Fi, without any more delay.
However, experts predict that ratification won’t happen overnight and it’s going to take some more time. Though some Wi-Fi vendors( Cisco, Aruba, Trapeze) have already launched 802.11n products, technology installations may happen only in the middle of 2008.
6. Short-range wireless technologies that will create a buzz
Short-range wireless technology is not just about Bluetooth anymore. New entrants like High-speed Bluetooth, Wireless USB and ZigBee are getting traction too. Demand for high data transfer rates has increased over the years with the increase in video and audio content on portable devices like mobile phones, laptops as well as on multimedia projectors and television sets.
Though high-speed Bluetooth is in its primary stage of development, it is expected to be 100 times faster than the current technology. This next-generation Bluetooth will hopefully hit the market in 2008.
Wireless USB is targeting 1Gbps throughput. Vendors have already introduced wireless USB hubs, adapters and laptops in the market. However, wide adoption of the technology depends on how soon it is going to be embedded into digital cameras, camcoders, MP3 players etc.
ZigBee is the wireless connection used by sensors and control devices. It is expected to find traction in commercial building automation in 2008.
7. No end in sight for high-definition (HD) war
Is the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD high-definition video formats never ending? Well, there, definitely, is an end. But that may not be in 2008 Analysts in the industry predict that the high-definition war may last for another year and a few months. There is a strong market position for both the standards currently and this makes it difficult to predict the winner.
Meanwhile, there has been no improvement in the sales of both the technologies this year as consumers still feel both Blu-ray and HD DVD are expensive.
On the other hand, Toshiba recently introduced comparatively low priced HD DVD players. This initiative definitely poses a challenge for Blu-Ray companies. To cope with this, they will have to cut down the hardware prices of Blu-ray. If that happens, the war will continue for some more time.
8. Shift from magnetic to solid-state hard drives
At present, the market is dominated by magnetic hard drives. But the future seems to be of solid-state hard drives as magnetic hard drives have limited data transfer speed. Solid-state hard drives are based on flash memory and is much faster memory solution. They also have advantages such as low noise and low power consumption. High pricing is the primary hindering factor for solid-state hard drives to become mainstream.
As long as the demand for high-quality personalized content exists among the consumers, IPTV will not struggle to reach new horizons.
Major players like Seagate are betting high on solid-state technology and have plans to offer it next year. Solid-state hard discs are likely to be more popular in the laptop market. If prices fall down, we can see a slow shift happening from magnetic to solid-state hard drives in 2008.
9. Is 2008 going to be a banner year for wireless?
We no more worry about the clutter of wires. Offices have gone wireless. Cities are going wireless. All portable devices have embedded wireless technologies. We are moving fast towards a ‘wire-free’ world. So, 2008, beyond doubt, is going to see much more technology developments.
Though the ‘wireless’ world won’t be a true reality so soon, the need for seamless mobility and freedom is surely going to drive more wireless technology advancements.
The upcoming 802.11n will redefine enterprise networking in the coming year. Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) will tie fixed and mobile networks to deliver enhanced user experience. 2008 is expected to be the year of Mobile WiMax as well. Above all these, 2008 will probably witness open access to all networks, which in turn will open up more opportunities.
10. The ‘iPhone mania’ to continue
iPhone rates as the most memorable new product for 2007. Yes, it literally shook the mobile phone world in 2007. Now, doubtlessly, companies would love to follow Apple’s path by introducing similar products. So, 2008 is certainly going to see mobile phones with more and more web services and multimedia functionalities integrated into it. So, 2008 could very well be a year of ‘iPhone-like’ products from Apple’s rivals.
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