The Indian telecom regulator (TRAI) has recently proposed that cable operators be permitted to enter the basic telephony business, along with the right to provide digital services, thus bringing "triple play" into cable industry.

Triple play  is today's buzz word as far as telecom operators are concerned. With basic (voice) telephony rates on the descent, aided worldwide by VoIP, telecom operators have already extended their delivery to data services. But it is video (the 3rd play) that is expected to bring the new revenues to telecom operators worldwide.

Telecom, DTH & Cable
While basic telephony may provide the "glue" for helping subscribers "stick" to the cable operator, the plummeting voice rate structure is proof adequate that this will not add much revenue. This is also clear from the strategy of telecom operators who are looking way beyond basic telephony for the next round of growth in revenues.

The first step that many telecom cos. took was to enter the broadband area. This trend started a couple of years ago. Many cable operators also followed suit.

As a parallel development, Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite television was launched. This provided an alternate pipeline for carrying television signals to the viewer. Being digital, the quality of service was far superior to analogue cable signals.

Thanks to VoIP technology, telecom operators (first fixed-line, and soon followed by mobile), have been plagued by continuously dropping call rates. In their efforts to supplement a degenerating voice business, most telecom cos. already offer broadband & data based services.

Now in their quest for further growth, they seem to be single-mindedly focused on a sole area: IPTV - short for Internet Protocol Television. This technology promises to revolutionize television signal distribution. In one stroke, IPTV promises new revenue streams to telecom cos. while it offers their fickle customers an important service, which hopefully will reduce customer churn.

Although not without its problems, the next round of opportunity is clearly for telecom operators, both fixed-line & mobile. IPTV or delivering digital video over the Internet is a new "delivery platform" which promises to bring telecom cos. in direct competition with the existing "delivery platforms" like cable operators & DTH. Worldwide, most fixed-line & mobile telecom operators have started gearing up for Digital Broadcasting via broadband, UMA, 3G & WiMax.

Battle Royale
To match the high quality of digital services over analogue cable TV, Cable Operators will have to invest to upgrade their broadcast services to digital.

If regional cable TV operators (as expected) find it difficult to make the required investments to upgrade their analog services to digital, this battle could well be fought in the smaller towns of the world.

This would make te vast, semi-urban & rural areas ripe for the plucking - for telecom & DTH operators!

Digital, Digital
Most of the larger cable TV operators have already started switching to digital cable services to match the advantages offered by DTH. The same will see them through when they compete with IPTV services from telecom operators. But it is the semi-urban cable TV operators who may not be able to afford the investment - where telecom/DTH penetration is expected to score.

Will IPTV provide the much-needed alternate revenue streams for telecom cos.? How much time will it take to implement? If anything is clear, it is that cable operators need to upgrade existing analog networks to digital. ASAP.