Scientific-Atlanta: Your iTV ASP?
broadband-daily.com
Scientific-Atlanta, the second-largest cable network equipment maker in the US, can soon start calling itself an ASP. S-A is expected to sign up its first customers, who will test a service for providing interactive TV (iTV) services to consumers. The twist is that S-A will host, provision, and maintain the applications from a central location outside of the cable operator's central offices.
Several initiatives to provide services such as email, Internet access, messaging, and commerce capabilities via the TV in the US have stalled because of problems in integrating various technologies. As a result, operators have been more reluctant to introduce iTV services. By taking care of software integration and network management issues with the ASP model, S-A's move may help deploy iTV services more widely.
S-A's new offering has been fully tested and is now in the process of going live at the first customer site, S-A executives told the451. Two clients have signed letters of intent to use the service, but S-A declined to reveal their identity since a definitive agreement has yet to be finished.
Larry Bradner, president of S-A's SciCare Broadband Services division, describes the InView 'information-on-demand' service offering as "a portal of technical services," a somewhat confusing term that means the company is hosting content and providing services from a central location. Servers will reside at a network operations center (NOC) staffed by S-A. S-A will typically install equipment needed for the VPN required by the service as well as integrate its server software with a network operator's transmission equipment and billing systems.
Bradner said the ASP model isn't just about installing servers in the NOC. With equipment in place, S-A can provision new services on a cable operator's system. It will manage content provider partnerships that feed information to applications such as news tickers. S-A will manage content distribution to a cache at the cable operator's network hub (the company said last month ScreamingMedia will become the first content provider for InView), and ultimately push content all the way to the set-top, Bradner said. Once applications are in place, S-A can also handle customer support, relieving operators of the time and expense associated with training support staff to handle such calls.
The ASP model will help "accelerate the deployment of interactive applications in our network," Bradner says. The claim is nothing to sniff at: S-A has over 6 million of its set-tops, so moving iTV out to even 10% of that installed base would represent a significant step forward for the industry.
That S-A is setting itself up to provide interactive services via an ASP model shouldn't be as surprising as it first sounds. The InView portal ties in with a number of existing components of the company's SciCare broadband services offerings. For instance, S-A already offers network-monitoring services that look in remotely on headend transmission equipment. Eventually, they will be able to monitor equipment right down to the amplification node in a S-A fiber optic network. After that point, data analysis software built by S-A would then flag any problem areas and notify personnel.
The company has also worked with 40 customers on project management and testing services to help operators use their networks more efficiently. S-A charges between $60-$90k upfront for a consultation, but Bradner says most operators are getting a return of up to tenfold within a year, and some will see the benefits in as little as four weeks. Another 19 customers are in line for the service, says Bradner.
All told, the push for a predictable revenue stream from services has not yet resulted in a big enough number to warrant a separate line item in the company's financial reports. Still, the move lays the groundwork for a business model that is less susceptible to downturns in telecom spending. Investors will come to appreciate the strategy more if the US economy doesn't recover by year's end. |
