BT CTO targets broadcast revenue from all-IP switch

The migration of broadcast TV to digital will bring the “next era of significant growth” in network usage, with revenue opportunities to come, claimed BT Chief Technology Officer Howard Watson.

“The key question is ensuring that we have techniques for managing that efficiently”, he added, speaking at BT Networks’ Business Briefing earlier this week.

He said BT was conducting research around converting unicast streams to multicast, particularly for live television. “That would significantly lower the burden on the core network”, Watson said.

Inevitably, Watson turned to discussions around net neutrality rules to support his call for broadcaster-funded infrastructure, underlining the need for a regulatory framework that “evolves” alongside technology. He estimated that UK broadcast distribution currently costs approximately £500m per annum. The savings made from an all-IP shift must fund “some” of BT’s network infrastructure investments, Watson said, adding that BT “clearly” needs to invest in supporting all-IP broadcasting.

Data demand still soaring as efficiency gains fade

BT Networks expects to reduce the cost of adding capacity to its network over the next four years, continuing a twelve‑year trend of declines. Between 2021 and 2026, it anticipates a one‑third reduction in the incremental cost of delivering core network capacity on a cost‑per‑Mbps basis, according to the division’s Chief Financial Officer Emily Clark.

Looking back to BT Technology’s 2019 Business Briefing, however, there is a suggestion that efficiency gains are slowing. The cost of incremental data adds for the core network was roughly halved between 2012 and 2016, with expectations it would halve again by 2021.

Scheduling for success

Beyond alternative funding to grow the network, Watson described the perceived benefits of network scheduling to ensure resilience under increasing traffic.

“There is a lot of mileage in how you schedule things on the network”, he said. For example, Neil McRae, Chief Networks Architect, led an effort to convince the publishers of video game franchises Call of Duty and Fortnite to avoid simultaneously launching major software updates during COVID (BTwatch, #320).

“We’re confident that we can consume a shift from digital terrestrial TV to all-IP-based TV, and we’re putting a lot of thinking into how we would do that.”

— Watson.

He dismissed the prospect of a linear TV ‘switch-off’ in the current decade, estimating an “actual switch-off” to come in the early 2030s. “It’s important we start planning for it though”, he added. “We’re in active discussions right now with the main broadcasters”.