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With the launch of broadband services by most of the telecom services providers, the service which is most talked about is video on demand (VoD). Companies are hoping to cash in on the craze for watching movies as and when they want. Till now only the local cable operators are offering some sort of vanilla video on demand and music videos on demand services. But these cable operators do not have the resources to invest in infrastructure to provide good quality VoD services. Telcos typically had two routes to offer VoD. They could Either take broadcast route, utilizing the countrywide optical fiber cable (OFC) network or take the Internet route through the broadband offerings. Hurdles exist on both the routes. On the broadcast front, telcos have not been able to iron out their issues with the local cable operators to provide these services. VoD services through streaming video has also not been started due to delays on the telco's part in finalizing their content partners. The percent of revenue to be shared with content providers is also a thorny issue. According to reports, most of the broadband players are favoring a revenue-share model as opposed to an acquisition model where they need to do outright purchasing of content. Content providers' concern for revenue share arises out of lack of ability to know for sure how many cable homes will actually view their titles.

Webel (a West Bengal Government arm) and Reliance Infocomm have signed an MoU to jointly provide broadband products/services to residential customers in West Bengal through a network of 2,000 cable operators. Services to be offered under the Home Netway broadband will be television, telephony, Internet, and interactive video games. In the second phase, it will also offer VoD. The plan is to cover 193 cities in the first phase. The total market is estimated to be Rs 1,000 crore in the first year of operations. Reliance Infocomm is slated to launch Home Netway commercially in the middle of 2005. The company is also reported to have already bought the rights of several Indian movies for offering them on its VoD platform.

However, on the mobile video on demand, only a small beginning has been made by Reliance Infocomm, which offers R World video clip service, allowing users to choose from video categories, listed in the videos menu. Customers can view the clips from various categories such as trailers and TV promos. Customers also have a facility to 'save' movie clips of their choice on to their handset.

Reliance Infocomm has also tied up with Microsoft to do trial of broadcasting of TV through its IP network. The IPTV solution-apart from offering standard and high-definition channels, on-demand programming, and interactive program guides-will also allow new next-generation services including video streaming. Dish TV, which works through DTH platform, however, plans to offer movies on demand in the coming months.

Global Scenario
Globally, especially in the UK and the US, it is the cable operators such as ntl, Telewest, and Comcast who have taken the lead in starting VoD Services. Telcos elsewhere, as in India, have been slow in starting with VoD services. Cable operators in the UK and US have succeeded in creating a huge library of video content and offer as many as 30 movies everyday. Operators also offer premium video services like adult content. Ntl and Telewest have tied up with Redhot and Playboy TV for these offerings. Adult channels are a rage in the UK. The tariff for these channels range from £11.00 per month for one adult channel and £18.00 for three such channels.

Sudesh Prasad