Top Server Vendors for Telco TV

ABI Research has released a study identifying the top prospective server vendors for telco video-on-demand (VOD). The study is called "Telco TV Infrastructure & Service Integrator Opportunities.

Incumbent telcos are rushing to develop video capabilities to compete for triple-play market share against cable operators. A key capability for VOD, according to ABI, is a server that can "receive orders, process them, and deliver the product to the consumer."

ABI names ICTV, nCUBE and Microsoft as the top-ranked server vendors in its study. A release from ABI says the following about these three:

ICTV: ICTV is number one: they have announced deployments that are significant, and they appear to have an aggressive sales force that is doing a good job. Their ICTV technology isn't as good as the runner-up's, but they hit all of the main requirements of a VOD system, and their product scales well to provide a cost-effective solution to any size service provider." (Quoting analyst Michael Arden.)

nCUBE: "The company has a strong record in the CATV industry and should be able to draw on past customers for future sales. It also has a proven technology, giving it a strong score on the Innovation side of the equation."

Microsoft: "It has the benefit of the brand name and a huge sales organization. 'Their technology/innovation aspect is not as proven, because they are new to the market,' says Arden. "However, they have announced some big customers and are teamed up with strong companies, so their future in the market is promising.'"

The table of contents of the ABI report names other companies operating in this space. These two lists are of particular interest:

Video On Demand Platform Matrices:

• Matrix Methodology
• Alcatel
• Anevia
• BitBand
• Concurrent
• Envivio
• ICTV
• Kasenna
• Microsoft
• nCUBE
• SeaChange International
• SkyStream
• UTStarcom

Systems Integration Platform Matrices:

• SWOT Methodology
• Alcatel
• ICTV
• Microsoft
• Myrio
• Orca
• Siemens
• Tandberg TV
• Tut Systems
• UTStarcom

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