Television over IP: The Future of Video Broadcasting in Education
Merit Network presented a one-day workshop on the emerging world of Internet-based television
distribution, or IPTV on Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at the Michigan Information
Technology Center in Ann Arbor. See the
Workshop Agenda.
IPTV Background Information
Most observers agree that the coming years will see a massive movement of video delivery to IP networks.
Today, we see that online video sites and the distribution of pre-recorded and live video via the Internet
has become hugely popular. This trend is expected to continue as traditional content owners and
distributors move toward IP-based distribution.
IPTV offers real opportunities—and real challenges—for colleges, universities and other educational
institutions. The technology suggests the means to surmount limitations with current distribution methods
and to greatly enhance educational and entertainment services. Residential students promise to generate
an explosion in IPTV demand. For all organizations, video distribution via the network presents a huge
challenge as bandwidth-intensive video files and streams increase.
Covering Numerous IPTV Issues
This workshop was designed as a primer on the many evolving and unresolved technical, policy and legal
issues surrounding IPTV. We addressed the following questions:
How can IPTV be used as an alternative, or complement, to traditional coaxial distribution of television channels?
What projects are underway in higher education?
What are the hurdles to obtaining entertainment and educational content for IP broadcasting?
What are the technical options for IPTV?
What are the legal issues in IPTV?
What are the most promising approaches to making IPTV work in educational institutions?
The workshop featured presentations from leaders in academia and the IPTV industry, including:
Universities with operating IPTV systems on campus.
Video content providers.
A telecommunication/intellectual property legal expert.
A leading IPTV industry analyst.
IPTV hardware and software developers.
Attendees had the opportunity to meet leaders in IPTV from across the nation and to discuss
their varied approaches to this burgeoning field.
Access to the Workshop Archive
Access to the video archive and presentation slides for the workshop is available.
The videos are in RealMedia format and the slides are presented as PDFs.
