Small Operators On Track to Deliver Multiscreen Video, Says MRG

A new report from MRG, Inc. finds that small and independent pay-TV operators will introduce multiscreen video and mobile TV services by 2014, after deploying infrastructure upgrades and whole-home DVR, based on a survey sent to more than 600 operators and vendors.

"All of the elements, from adaptive bit streaming to the widespread adoption of the tablet and smartphones to licensing rights, are in place for multiscreen to be a standard part of many operators’ offerings within the next three years," said Ken Pyle, analyst for MRG, in a statement.

The report profiled over 60 vendors in the areas of transcoding, security/authentication, and on-demand servers, including Harmonic, ARRIS, Motorola Mobility, NDS, RGB, Nagravision, Verimatrix and Microsoft.

Lack of wireless spectrum was the biggest concern among surveyed operators. "In our initial look, it appears as if the race to help independent telcos with their multiscreen offerings is wide-open for the vendor community," added Pyle. "I suspect the root of this concern is that the larger carriers could be potential competitors with their 4G networks and could throttle the bandwidths of customers who didn’t take their video service."