Quality of Experience and triple-play test equipment
Olga Yashkova, Industry Analyst, Frost & Sullivan www.frost.com -- Test & Measurement World, 6/1/2007
“Triple play” has been a buzzword in the telecommunications industry since 2005. With fixed-mobile convergence as the major technological trend in the industry, the main focus is to develop next-generation networks that combine data, voice, and video applications over a single platform. If a test-equipment vendor currently provides an IPTV test system, it is a given that the vendor will eventually have to offer a solution that tests voice and possibly data traffic as well.
VoIP and IP video test-equipment vendors have started to offer triple-play test and monitoring solutions. While a large number of test-equipment vendors offer some degree of integration, only a limited number of companies, including Ixia, Spirent Communications, and Shenick Network Systems, currently provide an integrated triple-play test solution that tests voice, video, and data services on a single converged platform.
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The triple-play test-equipment market will grow from $91.7 million in 2006 at a compound annual growth rate of 33.6% through 2013. Source: Frost & Sullivan. |
The growth of the triple-play market is mainly attributed to the growth of IP video deployments. IP video gained significant acceptance in the telecom market in 2004 and has been one of the driving forces in the triple-play market ever since. The benefits IPTV offers are significant, including the capability to deliver more channels, faster shifting between channels, picture-in-picture display for programming guide, the time shifting of programs, and integrated services such as onscreen caller display if a customer has subscribed to both phone and TV services.
Apparently, customers are more tolerant of poor voice and data quality than they are of a disruption in video services—if an issue with video quality occurs while customers are watching TV, the end-user experience is greatly affected. As a result, the deployment of IP video technology led telecom providers to begin measuring end-user Quality of Experience (QoE) to ensure they were meeting customer expectations. In turn, the need to measure QoE has also driven growth in the integrated triple-play test-equipment market.
Similar to subscribers’ preference for the convenience of one bill for all of their communication and entertainment services, service providers prefer to deal with one test-equipment vendor that can offer an integrated solution that tests and monitors voice, video, and data in one box. This saves them time, money, and space.
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