Missed your favourite programme at 9 pm as you were busy? Don’t fret. You can watch it at any time convenient to you.
This will be possible when BSNL launches Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) in Karnataka in August. IPTV is a system capable of receiving and displaying a video stream encoded as a series of internet protocol packets. What that implies is you can ask for a channel or a particular programme or a movie at the time you want it. And even as it is going on, you can pause it and get back to it at your convenience.
All that a DVD today allows you. And you pay only for what you see.
Which means you can have a personal video library at home: BSNL broadband will provide this facility. Users can watch any movie from over a choice of films. The broadband facility will offer Bangalore customers voice, data and video, chief general manager Karnataka Telecom T S Kuppuswamy said.
Additionally on a time shift basis, one can watch one’s favourite programmes: The facility will allow e-education where slide shows, video lectures and other modes can be used to impart education through the net. The e-education initiative is not new and is available for several premier institutions like the IITs already.
Users will have to purchase a set top box to use this facility. The box is known as WICE — Window for Infotainment, Communication and Entertainment. It can be installed for a small fee after paying a security deposit. The broadband service is offering it as a value addition and it has already been launched in Pune.
The project has been supported by CSIR under the triple play broadband technology which is on par with what is available worldwide. The franchisee for broadband here is India Online.