Net TV - The Better Way (Review Airtel IPTV)

We have all seen the evolution from Doordarshan to cable TV, and finally the cable guy making way for DTH and CAS. Though picture, sound and content, too, improved over the years, there were still a few things missing, like the control over what you watch and when, to being able to record programmes, or watch something you missed.

All this changed with Tata Sky+, which allowed users to pause, rewind and even record live TV. Around the same time Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), also entered India. Though it gives the impression that you would have to sit and wait for TV to stream in, Internet TV just means TV signals will come in through the broadband wires.

IPTV has some advantages over DTH. Since the TV comes to your house over cables, rain can't affect the transmission. The service is more interactive and you can use the TV to order a pizza or do a video conference. Since the service is unicast—the signals streaming into your house will differ from what your neighbour gets ”every time you pay to watch a movie you have the option of watching from the beginning and not where the movie is playing at that point of time, like in DTH.

IPTV is not exactly new to India. MTNL has been providing the service for sometime, but I wanted to stay as far away from iControl after hearing about its slipshod manner customer service. The market has, meanwhile, been evolving with more players coming in. The latest entrant is Airtel, which has finally exorcised its fears, and started its service in New Delhi and nearby areas. Airtel, being a major player in the telecom space, also gives you the Triple Play option of having phone, broadband and television from one service provider with a single bill.

Airtel has some great features. It offers seven-day playback on 30 popular channels, including CNBC TV 18, HBO and Colors. Other features include a set-top-box with two USB ports, so that you can use it to connect a webcam for video conferencing, or maybe store programmes on an external hard disk. You can buy a movie for Rs 25 and watch it within 24 hours. I found the picture and sound quality wonderful and, at times, felt the reception was better than DTH.

However, IPTV has some inherent problems. The box that sits beside your TV is actually a modem, relaying your remote commands back to the server for action. This whole process takes a few seconds, and makes everything appear slow.

There are some Airtel-specific problems too. There is an Electronic Programme Guide, but you can't use it to jump to a channel and have to surf from one channel to another. There is no way to put an on-screen reminder so that you can watch a specific programme. The unit does not have RF output, so if your AV ports are full and you want to hook this box using RF, you can't. The box also does not support HDMI. The interface, all black and red with white text, is ugly and a little hard to read. The prompts are nice, but the user interface requires improvement. Services like radio, interactive television and movies on demand are still not active.

So, I suggest it is better to wait a while and see how the market evolves before taking the IPTV plunge.

--
The Above Article appeared in the Indian Express on Sunday, June 21, 2009