IPTV could be good enough to pay for

Telecom and media companies used to operate in their own silos, with clear divisions between what each offered to consumers. Media players produced or managed content; telecom companies provided telephone and broadband services. With increasing competitive pressures, as well as technology-driven industry convergence, players on each side are moving into each other’s space. Media companies have moved into content and voice delivery; for example, Comcast, a cable TV media player in the US, currently offers Internet and phone services. Likewise, telecom operators have responded to declining fixed voice revenues and saturating broadband markets by stepping into multimedia services. One promising such move by telecom operators is their venture into Internet protocol TV (IPTV) — a digital television service delivered over a broadband connection with a dedicated IP address. IPTV’s greatest value proposition to customers is its offering of premium content, in addition to greater control over that content. IPTV allows