Content area
Full Text
ost telephone companies across the country have thought countless times about the best way to deliver telephone, data and video across one central access point in the home. However, numerous solutions to this dilemma make the process of selecting the right technology more difficult.
If a local provider of telephone and data now wants to add video to its offering, it can create a myriad of head-scratching problems. Is there one single solution to the problem or even a few simple options? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Even large corporations like Cisco and Nortel have yet to provide a turnkey video solution. However, there is a simple way to make the process of finding that solution easier - by reviewing each step of the IPTV process and examining the best solution for each. Breaking down the applications into network, headend, transport and programming will make the overall solution more clear.
The first step in the process is to evaluate your network capabilities. Both AT&T and Verizon are using their fiber networks to rollout their IPTV offerings, but most rural téleos are limited in the amount of fiber within their network and therefore arc using a combination of fiber and copper lines. "Our challenge is...