TV Over Broadband Trials

This bold move from Telkom is part of their goal to keep abreast of the way things are developing in Europe and the US.
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Howcome they can compare to overseas 1st world countries now, but when argueing about pricing and service offerings they use the "we are a third world country dont compare us" excuse? :( I hate them! Arghhhh
 
Steven White, Telkom executive for product development, stated, “We have deals with M-Net and Multichoice in terms of content provisioning and aim to offer DVD quality broadcasts and video and music-on-demand, downloaded from a content server.”
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AFAIK a good DVD uses a bitrate of about 5 MBits\s. How will Telkom manage this with 1 MBit ADSL? Hopefully they aren't going to be using MPEG2.
 
And seeing that it's coming from a "content server" I surpose it's going to be on the local loop. (maybe their reason for capping local usage is because they'll start providing "video on demand") ??
 
for this to be possible high local loop speeds and quality of service are prerequisites.

These two factors represent possible obstacles to the growth of broadband in South Africa.
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Hahahaha, I found this very funny. And the last bit was a gem. Thanks for the smile :D
 
It seems that we are mere lab rats.

http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3514881

Australia's largest telecom is leaving Microsoft's (Quote, Chart) Internet Protocol television (IPTV) early-adopter program. Telstra was lab-testing the technology, but won't move to broader residential trials.

The decision revolved around a lack of bandwidth in the carrier's network, not problems with Microsoft's platform, Ed Graczyk, director of marketing for Microsoft's TV unit, told internetnews.com.

"They decided that for their particular situation it didn't make sense to continue with the program," he said. A Telstra spokesman could not be reached for comment.
 
My 3 gig cap just got very nervous thinking of all the bandwidth required.

Telkom hopes to launch the trials in August and are in the process of signing on 400 customers.
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Anyone here?
 
Even if there were any of the 400 trial people here, they would probably have had to sign some NDA, or at the very least agree not to discuss the trials publically.
 
Well this is positive news but they;ll have to increase the cap by alot if it is to be successful.
 
Is bandwidth usage measured at the DSLAM or further downstream? The reason for asking is if the content servers will be colocated with the DSLAMs, then such content usage won't count towards the cap if it occurs before the point of bandwidth measurement?
 
yea, mystic might have a point. what if the content served by these aren't allocated towards your cap, but would be seen as "free"... of course you would be expected to pay a monthly fee for accessing this content.

But with Telkom capping local and this... it makes sense.
 
My worries are (apart from the bandwidth cost worries) the control that Telkom will have over true broadband content in the country. It will not make sense for Telkom to be a partner in this and pay itself for providing its own bandwidth if you know what I am getting at. Telkom will be providing true broadband services at basically cost price whilst any possible alternative entries will have to pay for both upload and download bandwidth at a premium. Hardly a level playing field. If MultiChoice comes in on the deal and Telkom is a major stakeholder, they will simply use Telkom’s already existing connections (we all know they exist) with government to ban any new entries into the provisioning of TV over broadband. No logical reason why this should happen, but then again what is logical about Telkom.

Thus,
1. Expect TV over broadband in SA soon.
2. Expect MultiChoice and Telkom to collectively ask for the market to be protected from entry by excessive legislation
 
I agree with antowan .... Multichoice is just as expensive as telkom offering alot of useless channels "making their satellite packages a great deal"
 
Someone tell me how MultiChoice are any diferent than Telkom? They both operate without competition (or conscience). Makes sence that they'd join forces.
 
“To a visitor, it seems that SA is deliberately building a barrier between itself and the world. Unless the tariff structures are sorted out with competition entering the market – there is a serious possibility of the country being left behind” noted Aviv.

I find it a joke that in spite of its massive high broadband prices, Telkom now wants to bring in this new "TV over broadband" service. I can't wait to see what they will charge for the service...
 
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