Triple Play Includes

[Laila Berri]

As an interim marketing move while they installed fiber closer to the customer, telcos such as AT&T, Verizon, & Xfinity did co-promotion deals with satellite TV providers to sell television, telephone, and Internet access services bundled for billing purposes, although the services provided through a satellite link and the services provided through a phone line are not technically related. Telcos that own wireless phone networks also included those as part of such billing-only bundles because most cable companies do not own wireless networks.

The first triple-play deployment was by the US operator Cox Communications in 1997, delivered via a Hybrid fiber-coaxial network using digital and analog TV set top boxes, digital telephony devices from Arris International, and a cable modem system from Motorola.[4]

Triple-play services in the United States are offered by cable television operators as well as by telecommunication operators, who directly compete with one another. Providers expect that an integrated solution will increase opportunity costs for customers who may want to choose between service providers, permit more cross-selling, and hold off the power companies deploying G.hn and IEEE P1901 technology with its radically superior service and deployment characteristics for at least another decade or so.

Since 2007, access providers in Italy have been participating in an initiative called Fiber for Italy, which aims to build an infrastructure that can deliver 100 Mbit/s symmetrical bandwidth to consumers, in order to enable the delivery of triple- and quad-play services.[5]

There are multiple and intense regulatory battles over triple-play services, as incumbent telcos and incumbent cable operators attempt to keep out new competitors; since both industries historically have been regulated monopolies, regulatory capture has long been as much a core competency for them as have been prices and terms of service. Cable providers want to compete with telcos for local voice service, but want to discourage telcos from competing with them for television service. Incumbent telcos want to deliver television service but want to block competition for voice service from cable operators. Both industries cloak their demands for favorable regulatory treatment in claims that their positions favor the public interests.

In March 2007 cable operators scored a major victory when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overruled two state public service commissions by ruling that incumbent local exchange carriers must connect to VoIP services.[6] Regulators in South Carolina and Nebraska had been allowing local telcos to block Time Warner Cable from offering local phone service in their states. In the other direction, also in March 2007, the FCC limited the powers of municipalities and states over telcos that want to compete with cable TV companies.[7] Consumer groups expressed displeasure with this FCC ruling because they fear telcos will only offer service to the richest neighborhoods, which is a major point of contention between telcos wanting to offer television service and local governments is that local governments typically impose "build-out" and community access requirements so a cable provider is forced to wire the entire town within a specified period of time. All three Republican members of the FCC voted for this decision, while both Democratic members voted against it and one predicted either U.S. Congress or the courts would overturn it. In October 2007, the Hartford Courant reported that Connecticut regulators have ordered AT&T to stop signing up new customers for its IPTV service until they got a cable license; AT&T said they would fight this decision in court.[8]

For telephone local exchange carriers (LEC), triple play is delivered using a combination of optical fiber and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies (called fiber in the loop) to its residential base. This configuration uses fiber communications to reach distant locations and uses DSL over an existing POTS twisted pair cable as last mile access to the subscriber's home. Cable television operators use a similar architecture called hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) to provide subscriber homes with broadband, but use the available coaxial cable rather than a twisted pair for the last mile transmission standard. Subscriber homes can be in a residential environment, multi-dwelling units, or even in business offices.

Using DSL over twisted pair, television content is delivered using IPTV where the content is streamed to the subscriber in an MPEG-2 transport format. On an HFC network, television may be a mixture of analog and digital television signals. A set-top box (STB) is used at the subscriber's home to allow the subscriber to control viewing and order new video services such as "movies on demand". Access to the Internet is provided through Asynchronous Transfer Mode or DOCSIS, typically provided as an Ethernet port to the subscriber. Voice service can be provided using a traditional plain old telephone service (POTS) interface as part of the legacy telephone network or can be delivered using voice over IP (VoIP). In an HFC network, voice is delivered using VoIP.

Some service providers are also rolling out Ethernet to the home networks and fiber to the home, which support triple-play services and bypass the disadvantages of adapting broadband transmission to a legacy network. This is particularly common in greenfield developments where the capital expenditure is reduced by deploying one network to deliver all services.

For existing multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings, where running fiber to each unit may not be feasible, telcos often use VDSL to connect individual units over existing copper through a central optical network terminal located in the existing telco closet.[9][10] Over such a short distance, DSL can deliver much higher bitrates than is possible running DSL over the local loop from the nearest central office (as is common with basic DSL).

Triple play has led to the term "quadruple play", where wireless communications is introduced as another medium to deliver video, Internet access, and voice telephone service. Advances in both CDMA and GSM standards, utilizing 3G, 4G, or UMTS allows the service operators to enter into quadruple play and gain competitive advantage against other providers. The grouping together of services (as triple or quadruple play) is called multi-play.

Other advanced technologies such as WiMax or 802.16 has allowed new market entrants to achieve triple play. Many speculate that this means serious, new competition for established providers of bundled telecommunications services.

These services can be delivered with a BPL network using technologies such as IEEE P1901/G.hn. Since the devices all rely on AC power (or DC power via 802.3af or 802.3at which rely on AC power at the PoE hub), connecting them with only one cable each for both power and gigabit data cuts wiring costs, and most rooms are already wired for power.

The challenges in offering triple play are mostly associated with determining the right business model, backend processes, customer care support, and economic environment, rather than technology. For example, using the right billing platform to address a variety of subscriber demographics or having the appropriate subscriber density to financially justify introduction of the service are a few factors that affect decisions to offer triple play.[11]

In addition to the challenges mentioned above, there are a number of technical challenges with regards to the rollout of triple-play services. Voice, video, and high-speed data all have different characteristics and place different burdens on the network that provides access to these services. Voice services are greatly affected by jitter, whereas packet loss has a greater effect on video and data services. In order to use a shared network resource such as cable or DSL, the service provider may use network equipment that employs quality-of-service mechanisms to adjust to the requirements of the different services.

Triple-play refers to a business that provides three services: high-speed Internet, television (on-demand video and general broadcast), and telephone service and network infrastructure over a single broadband connection.

Triple play is a convergence of telecommunication networks, broadcast television networks, and the Internet. Only one of the three networks is introduced to realize the functions of TV, Internet and telephone, and the network resources will be fully utilized.

Data service: FTTH can provide more than 30M bandwidth, which can meet the needs of Ethernet/IP-based data services for a long period of time, such as Internet access, P2P, file download, online games and other services and applications.

Voice service: FTTH system can provide voice service, including Softswitch telephone voice (and various value-added services) using VoIP and traditional telephone using 64kbit/s circuit emulation. From the perspective of technological development, the softswitch mode will become the implementation mode that FTTH must support.

CATV business: It includes digital cable TV and high-definition cable TV. The effective occupancy rate of GPON bandwidth can greatly improve the occupancy rate of video image upstream bandwidth and provide a higher video image terminal downstream bandwidth at the same time. It mainly provides voice, data, and video services for public customers. For commercial customers, voice, data, and monitoring services are the major.

I wish that the last 45 minutes I spent on the telephone with three--three!--people in Verion's billing department could be played to everyone in Verizon's customer support. It might give some sense of what it's like--what it's always like--to deal with Verizon.

Back in October I was induced by the offer of Triple Play to move my wireless, landline and online access to Verizon. When I closed the deal I asked the rep what my monthly bill would be, all in including taxes and fees. $110, she said.