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May 5 2006

 The push by telecom carriers to deliver IPTV services is causing a massive shift in the home networking market, with telcos poised to invest heavily in technologies that will distribute IPTV and other multimedia services throughout customer homes, according to a major new report from Heavy Reading (http://www.heavyreading.com/), the market research division of Light Reading Inc. (http://www.lightreading.com/).


Multimedia Whole-Home Networking: Solving the IPTV Distribution Dilemma delivers the most detailed analysis available of IPTV's likely impact on the multimedia whole-home networking supply chain. Based on direct interviews with more than 30 service providers and technology suppliers, the report delivers a comprehensive and compelling view into the emerging whole-home networking sector, pinpointing the advantages and potential pitfalls that IPTV service providers will face in their quest to control the customer premises network.


The emergence of IPTV is reinvigorating the home networking sector, which now includes such leading technology suppliers as Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Motorola, and Siemens. In all, nearly two dozen home networking product suppliers are analyzed in the all-new 70-page report, which also details the home networking deployment plans of ten major telecom carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Communications.


"While early home networking initiatives were driven by end users, the whole-home networking model envisioned by most service providers puts control of home network resources firmly in the hands of the network operators themselves," notes Rick Thompson, Heavy Reading Senior Analyst and author of the report. "This dramatic shift in perception will have huge and permanent ramifications for the entire home networking supply chain."


Multimedia Whole-Home Networking: Solving the IPTV Distribution Dilemma is a must-have resource for any company involved in next-gen telecom technologies and services. The 70-page report delivers a full range of up-to-the-minute market sector intelligence, including:


* Detailed plans and strategies for whole-home networking as disclosed by
some of the world's leading IPTV service providers

* Independent competitive analysis of IPTV-focused home networking
products and strategies for nearly two dozen major technology suppliers

* A complete taxonomy of whole-home networking options available to
carriers, along with relative strengths and weaknesses of each option

* A full accounting of technology and vendor choices made to date in the
home networking sector by leading IPTV service providers


Key findings of Multimedia Whole-Home Networking: Solving the IPTV Distribution Dilemma include the following:


Reducing service providers' opex is a major driver for next-gen multimedia whole-home networking technology. "No new wires" is the mantra, as service providers attempt to increase the number of IPTV service installations per day by decreasing the time per installation. Increasing subscriber turn-up rates with the least possible opex is a primary metric for next-gen home networking.


2006 will be the critical year for multimedia whole-home networking vendors. With IPTV as a driving force, major equipment vendors are getting increasingly interested in residential CPE again. Industry action in 2005 presaged the future role of the home as the battleground for IPTV. Cisco's acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta and Alcatel's significant investment in 2Wire, both within the last six months, foreshadow what's to come.


Network operators expect to deploy a range of home networking technologies. There are many variables that will dictate the technology of choice for multimedia whole-home networking solutions, including factors such as existing wiring, building materials, construction details, range and throughput requirements, and sources of signal interference. Service providers interviewed by Heavy Reading for this report concur that they will need a "toolbox" of technology options to deploy depending on the specific customer premises requirements





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