FierceCable highlighted the ‘Home of the Future’ presentation that ARRIS CTO Charles Cheevers delivered at the company’s Investor Day event. The presentation looked at a number of technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), 4K streaming and virtual reality (VR) that will require in the future broadband capacity four times that of today’s average. Cheevers predicted that within five years, an early adopter’s home will include 3.5 set-tops, four streaming video devices, four Internet-connected cameras and three Wi-Fi extenders on an average.
Mutlichannel News reported that Comcast is planning to offer its new Xfinity Stream TV service to customers who are not subscribers of Comcast’s broadband service. Xfinity Stream will run on Comcast’s own managed IP network, but will not be delivered as an over-the-top (OTT) service.
Fullscreen, AT&T’s joint venture with the Chernin Group, announced that it will introduce an ad-free subscription video on demand (SVOD) service for teens and young adults next month, reported Variety. The $4.99-a-month offering will include original content as well as a collection of movies and TV shows licensed from established producers, such as Warner Bros. Television, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and MTV among others.
According to a recent report by Parks Associates, OTT video usage in Western Europe continues to rise, but still trails behind the U.S., reported CED Magazine. The OTT Video Market Tracker report revealed that 55 percent of UK broadband households and 51 percent in France watch TV programming and movies online, compared to 70 percent in the U.S.
Finally, TVTechnology reported that according to NSR’s UHD via Satellite, 3rd Edition report, 2016 is seen as a “key inflection point” for the rollout of Ultra HD (UHD) via satellite. The report projected that by 2025, there will be more than 785 UHD channels. And the bandwidth capacity required to carry these channels will drive an added $280 million in annual leasing revenues.