Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007 - (Page 15)

COVER STORY open software is provided so other companies can write software for it, including culture-specific video games. “I think there’s going to be an explosion in the IPTV world in the next few years, in software applications that allow the IPTV providers to take it beyond just programming.” And this, he says, is a way to really differentiate IPTV from cable and satellite offerings. Security Makes the Business Model Work “Content security is a very important piece of any type of ethnic offering or programming offering,” says Irdeto Vice President of Sales for North America, Sam Attisha. The encryption/decryption is the only way the providers can ensure that they get paid; without it, anyone could pull in the content sent out via satellite. Irdeto has been providing encryption for satellite content around the world for 40 years, and its U.S. business has been mostly ethnic broadcasting. Because Irdeto does the encrypting in the other countries, it’s a natural for it to be used on this end to manage the decryption. Attisha says there are other major players in the global content security business, and a variety of small startups, but, “much of the security offering of the channels and the offerings that are up there are managed by Irdeto.” He sees a lot of potential in IPTV for telecom companies. The cost model works, he says, because with satellite, there’s no additional cost for an additional customer. “A lot of these telcos should really get to know their marketplace, and ﬁnd out what their ethnic makeup is.” The big cable companies all offer ethnic programming as premium content, and as immigration rolls out to smaller communities, it makes sense for the telecom companies to offer the niche programming that will appeal to their audience. It’s an opportunity to provide targeted content and differentiate the telecom from its established cable rivals. the U.S. Although the bulk of our business is now the satellite, we are interested in working with the triple-play market, to help the small telcos compete with cable.” Home2US has been providing primarily niche marketing of programs direct to home since its start, four years ago. It recently inked a deal with SES Americom, the Who is Providing the Content? Several services aggregate international and niche programming, and supply packages direct to the end-user via satellite, to cable companies, and to IPTV providers. Home2US is a good example of this kind of service. The company claims to be the number two provider of international programming in the U.S., and founder and president, Emrah Ozkan says: “Our goal is to maximize our subscriber reach in 335279 Martin Group 1/2h 335279_Martin.indd 1 Fall 2007 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS PM 6/18/07 7:23:17 15

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007

Up Front Contents TeleBites Cover Story: The World at Your Doorstep Business Advantages: Reaching Out to the Fast-Growing Hispanic Market Technology Today: Ideas from Foreign Telecoms You Should Consider Industry Calendar Index to Advertisers People Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007

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