Over the last decade, the growth of satellite service, the rise of digital cable, fiber optics and the birth of HDTV have all served to dramatically change the television landscape. Now, a new delivery protocol is poised to make additional long lasting and powerful changes. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has arrived, and backed by the telecommunications industry is ready to offer more interactivity and bring more competition to the business of monetizing television.

IPTV is a system capable of receiving and displaying a video stream encoded as a series of Internet Protocol packets. If you have watched a video clip on a computer, you have used an IPTV system in its broadest sense. When most people think of IPTV, they relate to watching traditional channels on a TV set, where people demand a smooth, high-resolution, lag-free picture. IPTV presents an outstanding opportunity for “telcos” to compete on a level playing field with the cable and satellite companies in providing the popular “triple play”.

Once known only as phone companies, the telcos now want to offer a "triple play" of voice, data, and video that will restore their ability to compete. IPTV is the media service (television, video, audio, text, graphics and data) distributed over an IP network, which delivers a high level of quality service, security, interactivity and reliability. Content can now be broadcast live, in replay or on demand.

IPTV signals are accessible from IP enabled television sets (or those with an IPTV set-top-box), players (desktop, laptop, tablet, computers, smart phones and some consoles) can receive TV via the web. 

The possibilities are endless, from live TV channels, music channels, video on demand (VOD), pay live video events (PPV), to e-learning, dedicated advertising, and corporate communications, among others.

IPTV can offer an individualized experience to each user, as well as new forms of advertising more interactive, with greater control over the impact and the repercussion of advertising messages.

IP television is no longer the future, it is the present. It is the most cost effective way to capitalize on a Pay-TV head end and generate additional new revenue models to the fixed value of a subscription.