As direct-to-home (DTH) operators look to offer new services such as PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) and High-Definition TV (HDTV), there are potential rich pickings for set- top box (STB) manufacturers such as Thomson.

In fact, Thomson is already making considerable progress in this area. The company will be supplying HD STBs to United Kingdom satellite pay-TV operator BSkyB. These STBs will also have PVR functionality. BSkyB will launch its HD service in the United Kingdom in 2006. The link-up with BSkyB could be a huge boost for the company as it looks to gain other deals with satellite pay-TV operators as they look to follow BSkyB’s lead.

Ghislain Lescuyer, executive vice president of access platforms & gateways at Thomson told Satellite News the importance of the PVR is growing rapidly. He said, “Most of the operators have projects in this domain. The reasons for this are three-fold; firstly they are trying to limit churn rates among existing customers, secondly operators are working on growing their customer base and thirdly they are seeking to enhance their service mix. Offering PVRs is clearly instrumental in their efforts to achieve these objectives.

He continued, “PVR is a key feature in operators’ service strategy moving forward. This is not to say that the basic STB has had its day, it is after all the cheapest method to acquire a pay-TV subscriber. However, the PVR is also driving new applications and new ways of watching TV which in turn are opening up new revenue streams to operators.”

Lescuyer admits that HD and PVRs are the dominant trends in Europe. He said, “The two primary trends in the United States and Europe are HDTV and PVRs. Given the comparably lower quality of standard definition in the States the development of HD is probably more advanced there. Nevertheless, HD is gaining momentum in Europe. As far as PVR is concerned a product like Sky+ is followed and then copied by several of the operators in Europe. The timeline for deployment of both however will depend on the maturity of the operator. Thomson is working with several operators on projects of both kinds.”

No Limits In Terms of Technology

The STB market is a particularly vibrant one at the moment. As well as the emerging IPTV space, many satellite pay-TV operators are looking to deploy the next generation of STBs with higher capacity and the ability to screen HD content. In terms of when higher capacity STBs will begin to proliferate the market and the types of strategies operators’ are deploying, Lescuyer said, “Some operators will provide a full range of products from the entry box, through to higher capacity PVR solutions, and products with even greater capabilities in terms of mass storage and tuners. Thomson is involved in projects catering to the entire spectrum of operator needs. We are in a particularly strong position in this market and find that the technology is becoming less of a limiting issue. There might be some limits in terms of price, however. I don’t know how much the subscribers are ready to pay for such a service, for example.”

While cable operators in Europe are beginning to pose more of a threat to DTH platforms in Europe, Thomson will undoubtedly play a huge role as satellite pay-TV operators look to offer new services to their customer bases. “Whilst vendors face challenges, for example, in shortening time to market we also see a lot of opportunities in all sectors, including satellite because whatever operators are talking about in terms of product needs, Thomson is agnostic as we can provide them all,” Lescuyer said. “We have the products, solutions and experience that network operators need be they telcos, cable, satellite or terrestrial.”

–Mark Holmes (Brenda Clery, Thomson, [email protected])