On 13-02-09 14:02, Jay Ashworth wrote:
Do any of the people who've worked with some of the IPTV delivery services mentioned here know if their live TV services can be handled via Multicast?
Note that in Canada, because incumbents refuse access to their multicast enabled infrastructure, some of the newer (small) IPTV providers use unicast via the GAS/TPIA networks to deliver to individual customers. Obviously, they do not get bandwidth savings when many customers watch the same program, but they are at least able to offer some TV service which allows them to bundle Internet and TV instead of forcing their internet customers to subscribe to the cable service. Bell Canada (telco) does not allow indie ISPs to resell Bell Canada's IPTV service, nor does Bell canada accept to sell it to end users who are not subscribed to ell Canada's own internet service. So for folks on DSL based indie ISPs, , because the telco refuses to sell them IPTV services, the indie smaller IPTV providers provide an alternative. Note that in Canada, there are geographical restrictions to "BDU" (broadcast distribution undertaking). So an IPTV provider who is alower to distributre only in a certan region of Ontario for instance will to geolocate the subscriber before allowing access to the TV data. This geolocation is done by a transaction with the ISP to confirm the address/city of the subscriber falls within the allowed serving area. So the IPTV supplier needs to setup with each ISP to allow for this to happen (and sign contracts, billing etc etc). OTT providers who obtain "network" distribution risght are not regulated. But Broadcast distribution are highly regulated in Canada.