In
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
s, triple play service is a marketing term for the
provisioning, over a single
broadband
In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...
connection, of two
bandwidth-intensive services,
broadband Internet access and television, and the
latency-sensitive
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
. Triple play focuses on a
supplier convergence
Supplier convergence is a business model in which a company offers a combination of services or products that were previously supplied by separate companies. It is not to be confused with product convergence, where one product combines and replac ...
rather than solving technical issues or a common standard. However, standards like
G.hn
G.hn is a specification for home networking with data rates up to 2 Gbit/s and operation over four types of legacy wires: telephone wiring, coaxial cables, power lines and plastic optical fiber. A single G.hn semiconductor device is able to n ...
might deliver all these services on a common technology.
Quadruple play
A so-called quadruple play (or quad play) service integrates mobility as well, often by supporting
dual mode mobile plus hotspot-based phones that shift from
GSM to
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
when they come in range of a home wired for triple-play service. Typical
Generic Access Network
Generic Access Network (GAN) is a protocol that extends mobile voice, data and multimedia ( IP Multimedia Subsystem/Session Initiation Protocol (IMS/SIP)) applications over IP networks. Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) is the commercial name used by ...
services of this kind, such as Rogers Home Calling Zone (Rogers is an incumbent in the Canadian market), allow the caller to enter and leave the range of their home Wi-Fi network, and only pay GSM rates for the time they spend outside the range. Calls at home are routed over the
IP network and paid at a flat rate per month. No interruption or authorization for the shift is required—
soft handoff takes place automatically as many times as the caller enters or leaves the range.
CATV
By about 2000,
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
companies were in a technical position to offer ''triple play'' over one physical medium to a large number of their customers, as their networks already had sufficient bandwidth to carry hundreds of video channels. Cable's main competition for television in North America came from satellites, which could not compete for voice and interactive broadband due to the
latency imposed by physical laws on a
geosynchronous satellite—sometimes up to one full second of delay between speaking and being heard. Cable's main competition for voice and Internet access came from
telcos, which were not yet able to compete for television in most markets because DSL over most
local loops could not provide enough bandwidth.
As an interim marketing move while they installed
fiber closer to the customer, telcos such as
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...
,
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...
, &
Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
did co-promotion deals with
satellite TV providers to sell television, telephone, and Internet access services
bundled for billing purposes, although the services provided through a satellite link and the services provided through a phone line are not technically related. Telcos that own wireless phone networks also included those as part of such billing-only bundles because most cable companies do not own wireless networks.
Deployments
The first triple-play deployment was by the US operator
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
in 1997, delivered via a
Hybrid fiber-coaxial network using digital and analog TV set top boxes, digital telephony devices from
Arris International, and a cable modem system from
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
.
Triple-play services in the United States are offered by
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
operators as well as by
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
operators, who directly compete with one another. Providers expect that an integrated solution will increase opportunity costs for customers who may want to choose between service providers, permit more
cross-selling
Cross-selling is a sales technique involving the selling of an additional product or service to an existing customer. In practice, businesses define cross-selling in many different ways. Elements that might influence the definition might include ...
, and hold off the power companies deploying
G.hn
G.hn is a specification for home networking with data rates up to 2 Gbit/s and operation over four types of legacy wires: telephone wiring, coaxial cables, power lines and plastic optical fiber. A single G.hn semiconductor device is able to n ...
and
IEEE P1901 technology with its radically superior service and deployment characteristics for at least another decade or so.
Outside the United States, notably in
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, power companies have generally been more successful in leapfrogging
legacy technologies. In
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
,
dark fiber is available reliably to homes at tariffed rates (in Switzerland four
dark fibres are deployed to each home) supporting speeds in excess of 40 Gbit/s—only to the local caches, however, as
backhaul cannot typically support more than 10 Mbit/s connections to global services.
Since 2007, access providers in Italy have been participating in an initiative called Fiber for Italy, which aims to build an infrastructure that can deliver 100 Mbit/s symmetrical bandwidth to consumers, in order to enable the delivery of triple- and quad-play services.
Other triple-play deployments include
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
,
Vmedia,
Telecom Italia,
Swisscom,
Telekom Austria, and
Telus.
Regulation
There are multiple and intense regulatory battles over triple-play services, as incumbent telcos and incumbent
cable operators attempt to keep out new competitors; since both industries historically have been regulated monopolies,
regulatory capture
In politics, regulatory capture (also agency capture and client politics) is a form of corruption of authority that occurs when a political entity, policymaker, or regulator is co-opted to serve the commercial, ideological, or political interests ...
has long been as much a core competency for them as have been prices and terms of service. Cable providers want to compete with telcos for local voice service, but want to discourage telcos from competing with them for television service. Incumbent telcos want to deliver television service but want to block competition for voice service from cable operators. Both industries cloak their demands for favorable regulatory treatment in claims that their positions favor the public interests.
In March 2007 cable operators scored a major victory when the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) overruled two state public service commissions by ruling that incumbent local exchange carriers must connect to
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
services. Regulators in
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
and
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
had been allowing local telcos to block
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, opera ...
from offering local phone service in their states. In the other direction, also in March 2007, the FCC limited the powers of municipalities and states over telcos that want to compete with cable TV companies. Consumer groups expressed displeasure with this FCC ruling because they fear telcos will only offer service to the richest neighborhoods, which is a major point of contention between telcos wanting to offer television service and local governments is that local governments typically impose "build-out" and community access requirements so a cable provider is forced to wire the entire town within a specified period of time. All three
Republican members of the FCC voted for this decision, while both
Democratic members voted against it and one predicted either
U.S. Congress or the courts would overturn it. In October 2007, the ''
Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'' reported that
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
regulators have ordered AT&T to stop signing up new customers for its
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...
service until they got a cable license; AT&T said they would fight this decision in court.
Telco
For telephone
local exchange carriers (LEC), ''triple play'' is delivered using a combination of
optical fiber
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass ( silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows ...
and
digital subscriber line
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric dig ...
(DSL) technologies (called
fiber in the loop) to its residential base. This configuration uses fiber communications to reach distant locations and uses DSL over an existing
POTS twisted pair
Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted b ...
cable as
last mile access to the subscriber's home. Cable television operators use a similar architecture called
hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) to provide subscriber homes with broadband, but use the available
coaxial cable rather than a
twisted pair
Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted b ...
for the last mile transmission standard. Subscriber homes can be in a residential environment, multi-dwelling units, or even in business offices.
Using DSL over twisted pair, television content is delivered using
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...
where the content is streamed to the subscriber in an
MPEG-2 transport format. On an HFC network, television may be a mixture of
analog and
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...
television signals. A
set-top box
A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of s ...
(STB) is used at the subscriber's home to allow the subscriber to control viewing and order new video services such as "movies
on demand
On-demand or on demand may refer to:
Manufacturing
* Build-on-demand
* Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production
* Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until an ...
". Access to the Internet is provided through
Asynchronous Transfer Mode or
DOCSIS, typically provided as an
Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
port to the subscriber. Voice service can be provided using a traditional
plain old telephone service (POTS) interface as part of the legacy telephone network or can be delivered using
voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
(VoIP). In an HFC network, voice is delivered using VoIP.
Some service providers are also rolling out
Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
to the home networks and
fiber to the home
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...
, which support triple-play services and bypass the disadvantages of adapting broadband transmission to a legacy network. This is particularly common in
greenfield
Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to:
Engineering and Business
* Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation
* Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist
* Greenf ...
developments where the
capital expenditure
Capital expenditure or capital expense (capex or CAPEX) is the money an organization or corporate entity spends to buy, maintain, or improve its fixed assets, such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, or land. It is considered a capital expenditure ...
is reduced by deploying one network to deliver all services.
For existing
multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings, where running fiber to each unit may not be feasible, telcos often use
VDSL
Very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) and very high-speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) are digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies providing data transmission faster than the earlier standards of asymmetric digital subscriber line ...
to connect individual units over existing copper through a central optical network terminal located in the existing telco closet. Over such a short distance, DSL can deliver much higher bitrates than is possible running DSL over the local loop from the nearest central office (as is common with basic DSL).
Wireless
''Triple play'' has led to the term "
quadruple play", where wireless communications is introduced as another medium to deliver video, Internet access, and voice telephone service. Advances in both
CDMA and
GSM standards, utilizing
3G,
4G, or
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...
allows the service operators to enter into quadruple play and gain competitive advantage against other providers. The grouping together of services (as triple or quadruple play) is called
multi-play.
Other advanced technologies such as
WiMax
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMAX ...
or
802.16 has allowed new market entrants to achieve triple play. Many speculate that this means serious, new competition for established providers of bundled telecommunications services.
Power integration
These services can be delivered with a
BPL network using technologies such as
IEEE P1901/
G.hn
G.hn is a specification for home networking with data rates up to 2 Gbit/s and operation over four types of legacy wires: telephone wiring, coaxial cables, power lines and plastic optical fiber. A single G.hn semiconductor device is able to n ...
. Since the devices all rely on AC power (or DC power via
802.3af or
802.3at which rely on AC power at the
PoE
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widel ...
hub), connecting them with only one cable each for both power and gigabit data cuts wiring costs, and most rooms are already wired for power.
Business
The challenges in offering ''triple play'' are mostly associated with determining the right business model,
backend processes, customer care support, and economic environment, rather than technology. For example, using the right billing platform to address a variety of subscriber demographics or having the appropriate subscriber density to financially justify introduction of the service are a few factors that affect decisions to offer triple play.
In addition to the challenges mentioned above, there are a number of technical challenges with regards to the rollout of triple-play services. Voice, video, and high-speed data all have different characteristics and place different burdens on the network that provides access to these services. Voice services are greatly affected by
jitter
In electronics and telecommunications, jitter is the deviation from true periodicity of a presumably periodic signal, often in relation to a reference clock signal. In clock recovery applications it is called timing jitter. Jitter is a signific ...
, whereas
packet loss
Packet loss occurs when one or more packets of data travelling across a computer network fail to reach their destination. Packet loss is either caused by errors in data transmission, typically across wireless networks, or network congestion.Ku ...
has a greater effect on video and data services. In order to use a shared network resource such as cable or DSL, the service provider may use network equipment that employs
quality-of-service mechanisms to adjust to the requirements of the different services.
See also
*
Technological convergence
*
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...
*
Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
*
Telecommunication convergence
Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social medi ...
*
Cable television in the United States
Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. with Data by SNL Kagan shows that about 58 ...
References
External links
How to test Triple Play ServicesTriple Play: Building the converged network for IP, VoIP and IPTVTheTriple Play: Best Internet Service ProvidersTriple Play Xfinity Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Triple Play (Telecommunications)
Digital television
Fiber to the premises
Net neutrality
Telecommunication services