Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 2, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The German IPTV Association, an alliance of small and medium-sized IPTV companies, has established an IPTV Streaming working group. It began its work by developing a testing procedure and quality seal for the industry. For the first time, the certificate is intended to enable rapid, objective comparison of IPTV streaming service providers. As a quality seal based on independently verified infrastructure quality, it is intended to create market differentiation.
According to the association, the quality seal aims to improve provider comparability and market transparency, strengthen the standardisation of IPTV streaming solutions, and create an incentive for further quality improvements and innovation.
There is strong demand for such certification, with many enquiries from IPTV broadcasters and portal operators seeking objective quality criteria, explains Alexander Schulz-Heyn, Chairman of the German IPTV Association. “As demand for streaming offerings increases, IPTV broadcasters and portal providers, video-content producers, and other potential customers looking for professional and reliable IPTV playout centres need a sound and dependable decision-making aid. A quality seal is ideal for achieving this. We are pleased to have secured knowledgeable industry experts for network and service testing and capable partners such as eco e.V. for the certification programme.”
The working group is headed by Martin Hellmer of IMS Technology. Hellmer says the top priority is to focus on test questions that can be assessed transparently and objectively.
The IPTV Streaming working group is managed by the German IPTV Association in cooperation with eco e.V. and comprises Stream5 GmbH, nacamar GmbH, IMS Technology GbR, EANTC AG, G Geißendörfer & Leschinsky GmbH, Hofmeir Media GmbH, Beuth University of Applied Sciences, and Datacenter Luxembourg.
Over the coming months, the working group will define graduated certification criteria covering every area of a professional IPTV streaming service. The association announces that a wide variety of criteria will enter the assessment, from data-centre security and the availability of the networks used, through video-server functionality and the usability of the supplied player, to analysis of audience behaviour and refinancing models. The working group’s next meeting will take place in Munich at the beginning of August.
