February 2010

COMING SOON - WIRELESS STBs

'The World Is Shifting To Wireless' would be a fair summary of trends in most forms of electrical connectivity. Consumers prefer to 'Cut The Wire' but often costs are too high or the necessary technology does not exist.

Reports indicate that Indian consumers may soon have a choice to deploy wireless STBs in their homes. These will provide viewing to the the 2nd or 3rd TV set in the home, wirelessly connecting to the main STB which ofcourse would be wired to the incoming IPTV, CATV or DTH feed. the solution will find favour with consumers who can then relocate their TV sets any where within their homes and also deploy additional TV sets in other rooms, without the concern for unsightly wires, snaking around the home.

WIRELESS IPTV STB

Aksh Optifibre has reportedly commenced trials of its wirelessly interconnected IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) STBs. Aksh provides its IPTV services as a tier on top of MTNL and BSNL's broadband-telephony solution, in Delhi and Mumbai.

"We are soon going to see a commercial rollout of wireless STBs for our IPTV services. This will enable consumers to access IPTV services in any part of their home without having to physically make wire connections from the STB to the TV sets," says Kailash Choudhary, MD, Aksh.

The wireless STBs are likely to be priced at Rs 6,000 each, more than 3 times the cost of a wired STB.

Aksh Optifibre is also working on a TV set with a built in wireless STB. "We are currently testing an integrated television set in which IPTV has been integrated so that consumers do not need any extra box or messy wiring. This will be launched by March 2010," says Choudhary.

WIRELESS CATV STB ?

Noida-based STB manufacturer - Logic Eastern claims to have already rolled out a wireless cable box for consumers to enhance the interactive services. "We have already rolled out 61,000 such boxes that do not require wire connectivity. It works on a 'mesh network' technology, wherein the interactive services can work without having wire line connectivity," explains Vineet Wadhwa, its chief technology officer.

FOR DTH TOO ?

Reports are that some Indian DTH platforms are also conducting trials for wireless STBs.

The benefit of wireless connectivity inside a home has tremendous value for consumers. Will wireless STBs be the next success story ? n