Well, an interesting day at the Digital Delivery Conference. Very well put together, it resulted in some genuinely open discussions.

On the back of recent events I decided to become controversial and predicted that IPTV (actually STBs) was an interim technology. My co-speakers from Microsoft TV and Thomson took huge exception at this.

Still, IPTV is pretty much the sole environment of telcos who want to be broadcasters, and it has had a degree of success in Spain, Italy and France. However, the world IPTV population, claimed at 4.3m pales into insignificance against even a basic web streaming service.

IPTV STBs have a role to play until they become built into the screen. I guess the concept doesn't go away, but the manifestation does.

But the walled garden is going to be an anathema to the current generation of consumers. They simply won't put up with a network that doesn't extend.

So, I'm sure Microsoft and Thomson will extract millions from telcos for the time being, but my feeling is that the telcos would be better investing in a more durable platform.

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