HDTV Is Great, But IPTV Is The Bigger Deal
By Adam Kirby, Associate Editor -- Hotels, 6/1/2007
High-definition flat-screen television is on the verge of becoming a standard expectation among high-end properties, if it is not already. When preparing to make the capital commitment of US$1,000 or more to upgrading to flat-screens, likewise consider the relatively modest cost of moving from the old analog signal or an unsecured digital signal to an Internet Protocol carrier. More commonly known as IPTV, its digital signal is crisper than analog and allows seamless integration of television with Ethernet and telephony, since all three can share the same wired infrastructure, while providing a secure network for the transfer of sensitive information.“No one should be analog anymore,” says Russell P. Reeder, president of NxTV, a hospitality IPTV provider. He likens a hotel purchasing non-IP infrastructure to choosing a VCR over a DVD player. Indeed, if a hotel already uses IP telephony, the infrastructure is already in place, so it would almost be wasteful not to add IPTV content.
From a guest’s perspective, besides a superior picture quality, IPTV allows for a far greater number of entertainment offerings. Otrum, which has begun rolling out IPTV at European hotels, is offering various channel packages under its Fusion platform for guests from particular regions or who speak certain languages. With the click of a mouse, a hotel can program a German guest’s television with German-language stations, for example. “We are able to offer far more channels for our foreign guests,” says Nigel Bateson, Otrum’s vice president for products. “Before IPTV, there just was not that much capacity for diversity.”
Because IPTV carries channels in the form of MPEG2-encrypted signals, which use about 95% less bandwidth than a standard digital channel, that means extra revenue possibilities for hoteliers. The sky is the limit for the number of pay-per-view offerings, and niche formats like national sports packages can be easily added to the pay-per-view slate. Additionally, some IPTV pay-per-view providers are beginning to take advantage of consumers’ desire for so-called “timeshift television,” offering fee-based replays of popular programming days after its original air date. InfoValue’s SuiteTV platform even provides guests with individual in-room digital video recording capability.
The infrastructure-sharing aspect of IPTV that integrates with phone and Ethernet—known as the “triple play”—is a nice long-term cost-savings benefit, but it has useful perks for both the guest and the hotelier. Guest account information can be accessed directly from the TV, a spa appointment or tee time can be set with the remote control, and messages from the front desk can pop up on screen. From a data security standpoint, IPTV allows the hotelier to connect POS systems directly to the room electronics without fear of credit card information being intercepted—a vulnerability of standard digital lines, NxTV’s Reeder says. “If people say they are digital, but they are not IP, it is not secure and it is not scalable. People think, ‘Oh, I am digital so I am ‘future-proofed,’ and that is just not the case.”
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