Presentation given at Internet2 meeting, April 23, 2013.

1. IPTV @ TULANE
FINDING THE RIGHT PARTNER
Jim Bradley Assistant Vice President for Information
Technology and Academic Computing
Derek Toten Director of Campus Technologies

2. Tulane University
New Orleans, Louisiana – founded 1834
Total students: 13,486
Students living on campus: 3,844
Number of residence halls: 12

3. Tulane Legacy CATV Plant
1992 – Tulane installs a CATV system
• Dish farm with local head-end
• 75 channel, 550 Mhz RF system
• Co-ax to the outlet

4. Tulane Legacy CATV Plant
1996 – contracted with Cox Communications for
content delivery
• Fiber feed replaces unreliable dish farm
• Cox fiber to Tulane head-end
• Tulane RF plant remains the same
• Cox channels re-modulated and re-distributed as
custom lineup
2009 – aging RF plant requires replacement
• Started process to replace or renovate
• Serious consideration of IPTV

5. 2010 - Cox proposes to rehab
campus CATV plant
• Lay new fiber across campus
• Re-wire all residence halls
• Build new head-end
• HD channels
• VoD capability
• Four-fold cost increase
• Ten-year commitment
• $10,000,000 deal
Cox CATV Improvement Proposal

6. Issues with Cox CATV proposal:
• $10,000,000
• Very disruptive to campus
• Voice & data not an
opportunity for Cox at Tulane
• Will this CATV technology
and model still be viable in
five years? Ten years?
• Not the right choice for Tulane
• Probably not the right choice
for Cox, either
Cox CATV Improvement Proposal

7. Time to seriously consider IPTV
Conditions were right
• Aging CATV plant
• Major network overhaul underway
• 10Gb distribution, 1Gb access ports
• New wireless access points
• dual-band 802.11n
Reviewed the IPTV service environment
• Identified key providers in higher ed
• Conducted a limited pilot of IPTV technology
• Anadequate solution was identified
Tulane ready for IPTV, but stilllooking for the right partner
IPTV as a solution

8. Challenged Cox executives to provide an IPTV
service that met our needs and expectations
Coincidentally, Cox redeveloping their home
wireless product into an IPTV service
Again, conditions were right:
• Cox a valuable and long-term partner to Tulane
• Experienced CATV service provider
• Deep relationships with content providers
• IPTV already in beta
• Existing CATV contracts with Cox
Cox as an IPTV partner

9. Contract flexibility
• IPTV beta testing alongside legacy CATV system
• Continue to provide access to both systems while
critical IPTV features are stood-up
• Set-top-boxes
• Mobile apps
• Local broadcasters and local origination channels
• Popular channels (ESPN, Comedy Central, etc.)
• Although dual systems are running, Cox only billing
for one (same audience)
• Turn off legacy CATV once IPTV can provide
equivalent service
Cox as an IPTV partner

10. • IPTV content originates from Cox HQ in Atlanta
• A Content Delivery Node (CDN) in Tulane’s New
Orleans data center receives and caches content
over a dedicated 1Gb circuit
• SSO authentication via Tulane’s RADIUS server and
subsequent handoff to Cox
• Multicasting not available over host
network at this time
• Playback clients for Mac OS and
Windows
Cox IPTV Pilot

11. Spring semester, 2013 – validation of service
• 34 channels of HD video
• Wireless enabled
• No local broadcasters
• No local origination
• Lineup still missing some notables (ESPN, Viacom)
• Rolled out to all students, one residence hall at a
time, throughout the course of the semester
• As of Monday, April 21:
• 3716 users registered to the service
• 545 active users
• Available throughout the Tulane network
Cox IPTV Pilot

12. Quality and reliability of IPTV service over the Tulane
network is sufficient for most users
• Wireless performance issues (correctible)
• Computer performance issues (multi-tasking)
Students enjoy the simplicity and convenience of IPTV
• Consider it a value added to dorm living
• Fits into their digital life styles
Network operations are not adversely affected by this
service
IPTV Pilot Results

13. What do students want from IPTV?
• Convenience – always available
• Their favorite channels – Some would pay extra for
premium programming
• The ability to watch TV via any device
• Stand-alone television
(with set-top-box or
other appliance
• From their computer
• On any mobile device
IPTV Pilot Results

14. Future of IPTV at Tulane
“Must-Have” for service to be successful
• Expanded channel lineup
• ESPN, Comedy Central, Fox News, etc.
• Mobile apps (iOS, Android)
• Set-top-box device or other appliance
“Would-Like-to-Have” to improve service
• VoD
• Improved user interface
• Subset of channels accessible to all
Tulane affiliates (news, weather, local
origination)

15. Future of IPTV
IPTV everywhere on any device
IPTV providers develop relationships with content
providers to allow IPTV portability
• Students connect to IPTV through their institution
• Students maintain that relationship
even after graduating
• IPTV provider has lifelong
customer
• University has lifelong
interaction and can provide
customized alumni
programming