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Broadband Access
RF video's pulse is beating loudly
IPTV is the future, but traditional video still has life
by Sean Buckley
For anyone that’s followed the IPTV hype curve since it began to emerge around 2002 when pioneers SaskTel (sorry, AT&T was not the first) launched their initial services in Canada, it’s hard not to notice a spate of recent activity around RF video.
Evidence of the resurgence, or perhaps ongoing interest, in RF-based video is being driven by cable operators, independent telcos and the vendor community.
Along with the cable operators, telcos are also expanding their RF video prowess. Take Verizon and its RF-based FiOS video service. In its Q4 08 earnings report, Verizon reported that it added 303,000 new FiOS TV subscribers in Q4 2008 and at year-end 2008 the service reached 1.9 million customers.
Along with Verizon’s actions, a growing list of insurgent vendors have been adding RF return elements to their respective Fiber-to-X product portfolios.
Dave Cleary, VP, Advanced Technology for Calix — a former Optical Solutions Inc executive that headed many of the early FTTX PON standards efforts — said that he’s been surprised by the level of interest in RF-based video. In response, the vendor supports a host of RF return elements in its PON product portfolio, including RFoG.
“For years I was saying the RF portion was going to go away quicker in favor of IPTV,” he said. “I was pushing Optical Solutions to not do an RFoG type of solution thinking it was going to go away much quicker. Many of our customers said we should have come out with this much earlier because they were asking for it for years.”
But the RF video over fiber trend is not just an insurgent vendor’s play.
Wanting to expand its arsenal of cable and telco-grade fiber products, Motorola signed a distribution agreement with Alloptic to resell its Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) products to its tier one MSO clientele considering a FTTX strategy. (see Can cable survive without Fiber to the X).
Outside of some reports that Time Warner and Cox have issued an RFI for various FTTX approaches, including RFoG and traditional PON, the large MSOs given their RF heritage will want technologies that enable them to leverage their billion dollar RF investments.
The MSOs will likely leverage a mix of RFoG and possibly PON to target new Greenfield fiber opportunities and MDUs.
Carrying RF return capabilities over last-mile fiber is also resonating with smaller independent phone companies as well.
No more than a week after the Motorola and Alloptic partnership was announced, Zhone Technologies also signed a deal with Alloptic to integrate RFoG into its GPON system.
Arguing that RFoG is really just one of the stops along the way that it can give its independent telco customers — many of which own and operate their own HFC-based cable TV systems — Zhone wants to ensure that it can cover its bases with its own transitional FTTX strategy.
“We saw that there was at least a minority segment in this Tier 2-3 telco market in the U.S. where RFoG or some equipment like it was absolutely necessary to play in the game,” said Steven Glapa, vice president of product management and marketing for Zhone. “The scenario that’s dominant is a small telco that’s acquired or merged with a classic cable provider and they want to move signals over but they don’t want to buy an IP head end.”
Tried-and-true
Putting aside the large MSOs and the major players (AT&T and France Telecom) for a minute, building an IPTV network, especially for smaller independent telcos, is a major undertaking.
As a near-term solution, RF video for telcos, even those without any video assets, is a tried-and-true technology that is readily understood and available.
Many IOCs see warding off potential threats from neighboring cable operators as the key driver to deploying video.
Having been the dominant voice-only provider to mainly smaller towns and even rural areas, delivering video requires not only a new mindset, but also a major financial commitment that does not provide an independent ILEC a quick payback.
In addition to the financial expenses, independent telcos face a number of other technical and operational challenges. One of the common issues is the lack of coordination between vendors and the performance of the backend support systems to carry interactive features.
“Many operators — especially smaller telcos — are not impressed by IP video/middleware systems, from both the cost and performance standpoints,” Erik Keith, Principal Analyst, Broadband Infrastructure at Current Analysis. “In contrast, RF video is extensively proven and easily delivered over PON systems, as demonstrated by Verizon with the FiOS BPON build-out.”
Citing IPTV's lack of maturity with Lousiana-based EATEL, for instance, decided to go initially with RF video over its BPON-based network. (see EATEL’s southern fried fiber triple play).
But even for independent operators such as Oregon-based Canby Telcom that have taken the IPTV plunge, lack of vendor coordination has put more work on them. (seeCanby Telcom Association adopts fiber-rich diet).
Already in the midst of an ambitious fiber-to-the-home replacement strategy, the operator is frustrated with vendors that don’t communicate with one another.
“When we started there weren’t any system aggregators; it was go out there and make it work on your own,” said Brandon Zupancic, IT manager for Canby Telcom. “We’ve had to become very tech-savvy about IPTV and all of the core components of our ecosystem, and in some cases we are the ones that drive interoperability between two specific vendors to make something work.”
What these experiences suggest is that there’s no one-size-fits-all for any service provider and cable operator when it comes to delivering video.
RFoG: cable’s transitional strategy
Also key in the RF video over fiber strategy will be the emerging Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) standard.
RFoG is a good transitional fit for cable operators and perhaps those independent telcos that have an existing HFC cable business.
In addition to Alloptic, other vendors such as Aurora Networks, Calix, and Enablence, through its acquisition of Wave 7 Optics, has integrated some form of RF return into their products to provide this transition.
MSOs and independent ILECs can start targeting new Greenfield areas with FTTH while leveraging their embedded existing RF network investments (video head ends, CMTS, etc).
Such platforms could provide benefits at both the customer premise and in the internal network.
By integrating RF return functions right into an ONT, the service provider does not have to provide special training to its technician crew or have a new power source. Then, at the head end, the service provider can leverage the same return path receivers from standard vendors such as Motorola or Scientific Atlanta/Cisco.
Heavy Reading believes that RFoG U.S.-based cable MSOs could reach between 50,000–100,000 homes and businesses this year with RFoG.
Despite this rosy outlook, RFoG is not without its obvious limitations.
For one, RFoG does not give the MSO any additional bandwidth because the operator is still, in effect, running an HFC network.
This means that MSOs and independents with cable properties that want to fiberize new and existing service areas are also looking at traditional PON and Active Ethernet technologies to get that Spinal Tap “this one goes to eleven” boost.
Zhone, in fact, believes the RFoG market opportunity for them is temporary. “One of the reasons we partnered on this is because we saw this as a minority, not the majority, of the customer base and a diminishing opportunity over time,” Glapa said. “As IPTV gets itself sorted out in terms of interoperability and cost structure, we see RFoG going away over the next handful of years.”
That is of course what transitions are all about: an entry point from an older generation to a newer generation.
And while IPTV is the future, RF video, much like TDM circuits, is one of those technologies providers aren’t going to throw away because something new has come along.
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