IPTV is proving to be a challenge, and its success rather depends on whether one takes a ‘glass half full’ or ‘glass half empty’ position on the technology. On the one hand, the blistering success of PCCW’s ‘nowTV’ scheme in Hong Kong, helped by fibre-to-the-kerb deployment and now’s easy access to Hong Kong’s high-rise dwellings. But on the other hand, the May 2007 failure of Aggregator TV, a London HQ’d 5-channel IPTV-based service. Despite being pushed out to the world and funding to the tune of almost $20m, it simply didn’t find enough takers to keep its backers happy. One might argue that this was a local UK service, but for the past year even major IPTV equipment supplier Tandberg Television, one of the prime movers in IP technology for broadcasting, has been ultra-cautious. They’re not alone. Only on May 1 Dr Abe Peled, president of encryption specialists NDS, and a main board member on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, said he was also cautious on IPTV. “Worldwide deployment is slower than we had anticipated.” NDS, however, is still happy to be aligned with major IP suppliers like Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel, but takes the longer-term view on IPTV.