Summary
The increasing demand for VOD and other IP based services over the CATV platform sets a real bottleneck in front of the CATV providers. While demand hikes, infrastructure mainly remains the same with its limited BW capability. This problem is currently seeing some efforts to be solved. Harmonic acquisition of Entone is a step towards better management of the bandwidth.
Analysis
Bandwidth crisis in CATV has been during the last years a real obstacle that impedes the deployment of new services , or at least limit them. The increasing demand for VOD and other features as "Catch-Up" , "Look Back" or "Start-Over" puts the bandwidth into a dead end. Without overcoming this problem, the gap between what the spectators want and what the providers can provide will broaden. Technology is not an issue here since VOD and IP based TV is already running. The issue is the existing cable infrastructure.
The most efficient way to step over this hurdle is to have a much better bandwidth management system. This what Harmonic is trying to do when enhancing Entone capabilities. Multimedia Polska S.A. deal can be the first in a row to be won in other countries where the cherry is of course the US market. Smart media gateways combined with IP based STB will manage cleverly the bandwidth issue.
Of course, there is a limit to S/W impact and probably in a decade or so, the infrastructure will not escape from a dramatic upgrade.
