Minerva has been involved in video-over-IP space since late 90’s. The company is one of the pioneers in the world of IPTV. The main product Minerva sells is iTVManager. iTVManager has two components: middleware and applications. Applications include EPG delivery, pay per view, video-on-demand, PVR etc. The middleware itself has two components: a back office server component and a client component that resides on the subscriber’s set-top box.
A bit about Minerva’s background?
We have been traditionally engaged on two major fronts: video processing (i.e. video encoding and transcoding systems) and service delivery (i.e. middleware and applications). Over the past couple of years we have been morphing into a pure software infrastructure vendor.
Which geographic region are you mainly focused on?
Our initial focus was in the United States, targeting small and medium size independent operators. We are now gaining significant traction with large operators in Canada, the United States, Latin America and Europe.
Can you share some numbers with us related to your deployments?
We have over 120 installations worldwide. Surewest, one of our customers, has the largest IPTV deployment in the US. Large operators in both North and South America will launch services by the end of the year, significantly boosting the number of subscribers enjoying television services powered by Minerva software.
Does the majority of your business come from the US?
Our headquarters are in California and most of our customers are currently in the US. We have recently opened a Development Center and a Sales and Support Center in Europe. We intend to leverage our success in the Americas to participate in the growing IPTV market in Europe and the Middle East.
How many IPTV subscribers are there in the US at present?
Over 200 operators are currently providing IPTV services in the US serving approximately two hundred and fifty thousands subscribers.
We also count subscribers by platform they are being served. How many subscribers are being served over Minerva platform at present?
The number is currently less than 200,000 but it is growing rapidly. We should pass the 1-million subscriber mark in 2008.
How many new service provider customers did you add during 1Q07?
In the first quarter of 2007 we added 15 new operators.
I guess you price your software as per the number of subscriber licenses, but if you work with small operators, some of them might start with hundreds of subscribers. How do you do business with customers buying 100 software licenses each?
Our software platform includes a back-office component and a client component. The price of the back-office component is tied to the number of subscribers the operator intends to serve. Operators can start with a small back-office license, sized for 1,000 subscribers, and scale as their business grows.
I guess the initial challenge for IPTV vendors would have been replicating what cable operators are offering. Which applications are driving IPTV in phase 2 now?
Today the key applications for IPTV in the US are HDTV and PVR. Converged voice and video applications are also very appealing to triple-play subscribers. We offer Caller ID on the TV and about 90% of our customers are deploying it. Our IPTV platform features a set of open API’s to enable third-party developers to implement value-added applications. We are working closely with a growing community of developers that will offer a broad set of applications, including advanced communication services, guided navigation, recommendations and T-commerce.
Other important challenges you come across in terms of new features?
IPTV offers tremendous potential vis-à-vis legacy television delivery platforms. The underlying IP-based infrastructure can enable a variety of applications already popular on the PC or the mobile phone. The caveat though is that delivering compelling new applications to the TV screen while preserving the responsive, TV-centric television experience is very challenging. It requires a robust and scalable service delivery platform, efficient and responsive client software and a well-defined applications interface framework. Our ability to offer this powerful combination makes the Minerva platform unique.
Are the last mile bandwidth and the in-home IPTV distribution still an issue?
The last mile bandwidth requirements are tied to the services being delivered. In some emerging markets a single standard definition stream is delivered to a single set-top box. A standard ADSL broadband connection with total bandwidth of 4-5 Mbps is all that is needed. Last mile bandwidth requirements are more demanding in North America. The typical subscriber could have one HDTV set-top box with PVR capabilities and two standard definition (SD) TVs. One high definition (HD) stream in MPEG-4 AVC format today requires approximately 8 Mbps. Standard definition streams can be delivered at 2 Mbps each. A 20 Mbps broadband connection is needed to offer two HD streams and two SD streams. ADSL 2+ is becoming the minimum requirement in North America to offer compelling IPTV services that challenge the best cable can offer.
Delivering IPTV services to multiple set-top boxes within the home or connecting a PVR device to other devices in the home - be it a PC or other set-top boxes – can be expensive. New technologies ranging from next-generation wireless LAN’s to data delivery over power lines will soon enable operators to address this challenge, further accelerating the penetration of IPTV services.