[Satellite News 1016-08] U.K.-based set-top box vendor Pace is trying to transform itself into a company that could play an integral role in the networked home of the future, CEO Neil Gaydon said. With Pace selling more high-definition (HD) personal video recorders (PVR) than ever and a growing demand from consumers for HD content throughout the home, the pressure is on companies such as Pace to provide more than just a basic set-top box.
    Solutions that use wireless technology and powerline home networks for moving content around the home will become more in demand by Pace’s satellite pay-TV customers, Gaydon told Satellite News. “Pay-TV operators have always led the emergence of new concepts in our market, not the consumer electronics players,” he said. “They led the change from analog to satellite, the introduction of PVR and the same is happening with HD. They take consumers to the next level of technology possibilities.”
    Offering a wireless solution to pay-TV operators is not without risk, but Gaydon believes Pace has demonstrated that the technology has progressed enough that it will be a viable alternative in the future “We are demonstrating the current state of play for wireless home networking, to inform longer-term decisions operators are now considering for their home networking and convergence strategies,” he said.
    The Pace Multidweller, a solution that satellite pay-TV operators and others could use to offer PVR and HD services to customers in multi-dwelling units, was launched three years ago, but Pace still is waiting for its first commercial deal for this type of next-generation solution.
    “Our new Multidweller solution is a different business model for Pace and takes us into the infrastructure business, where there are also opportunities for recurring revenue streams through support services and system upgrades,” said Gaydon. “I expect to see the first Multidweller products shipping within in the next 12 months. Multidweller will enable operators to increase their [average revenue per user] in apartment blocks, which today are difficult if not impossible, for them to access with full triple-play and interactive services.”
    Gaydon is optimistic these deals could start to happen in 2009. “Home networking trials are taking place with pay-TV operators, and we may well see the first home networking deployment later next year,” he said. “And once one operator launches a full home networking capability, others will of course follow. Satellite operator Canal+ is already putting boxes in homes that work with a standalone hard drive for centralized storage that can be used for video-on-demand services and connected to more than one screen in the home. This is a very interesting solution and possible for operators today. I expect home networking activity to step up next year and a number of home networking deployments rolling out in 2010 to 2011, if not next year.”
    With pay-TV operators now using a combination of infrastructures to reach customers, the onus is on companies such as Pace to help operators unlock the potential of using different infrastructures. “Hybrid boxes are another opportunity for us,” said Gaydon. “All of our MPEG-4 box have an Ethernet port on the back, so products shipping today, from a hardware perspective, can support IP services. But there is clearly a lot more to do if we are to turn this capability into a service, for example, browsers and backend support systems need developing.”
    This will lead to a decline in sales of standard-definition set-top boxes, which could become a thing of the past in the not-too distant-future. “With the future pricing models for MPEG-4 and HD boxes, I expect most of the major operators will move away from [standard-definition] set-top box deals over the next 12-18 months. The shift to HD PVR will continue, with more opportunities to move into converged home type solutions, which we are very positioned for.”