Comparative Analysis of Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV Services

1. Introduction to IPTV Services

  1. Introduction

IPTV refers to the television services hosted over a broadband connection that utilizes the internet protocol. The advanced concept of traditional technology provides an emerging format of broadcasting that involves the delivery of television media in the form of data packets. It enables the audience to choose their specific program by viewing directly through the broadband connection.

With current technological progress, the conventional methods of watching television are evolving to match the modern digital era. Previously, traditional cable connections were broadly used for television broadcasting. The arrival of satellite broadcasting and the following mode of local antenna broadcasting further expanded the horizons of the TV world. This slowly withered as digital mode of conveyance took over the technology of analog base television. Additionally, the emergence of the broadband scenario brings a new method of watching television through online proceedings. Viewership habit is now evolving from traditional broadcasting methods into an IP streaming service. Hence, the emerging facet of Internet Protocol Television services is becoming prominent day by day due to the increase in its adaptability with worldwide broadband Internet users. It provides widespread options for the customers such as series, movies, live telecast, on-demand facilities, and so on (Xiao et al., 2007). Moreover, it delivers the maximum flexibility for Internet Protocol Television users that is far useful than the traditional system of viewing media. At present, IPTV stands out as a smart option to watch television. However, current digital media is dominated by video streaming services. Major video streaming applications do not provide any telecast services; Netflix is a symbolic example. However, IPTV services do, and many people are aware of this new service system for telecommunications. It is expected that IPTV will have bright future prospects. In this regard, a comparative analysis is made on two basic and uncomplicated IPTV services (Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV) frequently available to the consumers. A review is made of the facilities they provide, their conditions, and a few suggestions for improvement. Still, IPTV will require major changes to all operational and back office systems before effectively providing viable services. Beside these, success in terms of IPTV also demands a multi-faceted approach that includes the involvement of media partners, content delivery, the robustness of networks, the regulatory environment, and evolving market structures. (Peoples et al., 2006)

1.1. Definition and Concept of IPTV

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is a system where Internet Protocol (IP) is used to deliver television programs and videos over broadband infrastructure in a networked communication environment. IPTV is defined as a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a broadband connection. A general concept of IPTV is the provision of content or broadcast video services over an IP-based network to the residential subscriber or end-users, in contrast to the traditional public broadcast or cable networks (Xiao et al., 2007). IPTV has the potential to enable more interactivity and access to video content with personal choices. IPTV is often bundled with other services like Video on Demand (VoD), telephony, HDTV, or Triple Play, video telephone network services allowing the operator to more than double the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). IPTV services are delivered using very high-speed broadband. This can be achieved using DSL or cable modem, fiber optic, powerline, or wireless broadband technologies.

IPTV allows on-demand viewing and on the subscriber’s own schedule. IPTV fundamentally changes the way entertainment is classified. The IPTV subscriber gets full-function set-top box and the options of a personal video recorder. There are companies that offer live TV still on the model of IPTV. However, most of the companies offering this service only deliver it in near geographical location by embedding multicast systems to the network. IPTV gets quickly compared with commercial video delivery (CATV), but IPTV has capabilities that conventional CATV does not provide. CATV is delivered using broadcast-based systems which could be on-air transmission where the content is available to anyone, or streamed-based. All those systems provide a type of one-to-many transmission which inherently has an inflexible choice as IPTV is based on a network where video can be sent by the request of client (Peoples et al., 2006). This effectively provides interactivity, in turn, the IPTV can receive the command from the remote control device which tells what video stream should display.

IPTV delivery systems put control in the hands of the customer. Consumers can choose the content they wish to view at all times. The television layout offers a system of different channels grouped by content, genre, and demographics, users can select their favorite channels. Broadband delivery of on-demand content on current IPTV systems can handle up to 300 channels. Using a single communication protocol or a single distribution network, this can be difficult depending on the underlying network architecture. On the other hand, they are necessarily changing the already approved multicast or advanced video coding standard. With current capabilities, IPTV remains television with a very limited service coverage. There are different packages of packages used: prepaid, subscribing monthly or annually, with nepredpay or postpayment. Although normally lacking basic functions like time shift or live time change capabilities, the watch TV package still has the most interested public. On the other hand, IPTV is unaware of users’ habits and preferences. Generally, IPTV service quality is questionable because, without effective measurement, it cannot be controlled. On the other hand, as a state-of-the-art system, IPTV should test many quality attributes through quantitative methods. Such methods are somewhat complex and computationally taxed for normal appliances. Suppose it implements the server side; it is then necessary to purchase extra specialization equipment and use a specialized program for analyzing such measurements.

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2. Overview of Iron IPTV Service

Iron IPTV is a relatively new contender to the world of Internet-based television services. This gives the newest subscribers a great choice of different services in almost all different types of layouts available. Iron IPTV is designed to assist with the immense variety of channel selection available throughout almost all other subscriptions. Developed to be the simplest and easiest service to enter as a newcomer or an experienced subscriber. It is financially accessible and starts with a simple 1, 3, 6, or 12-month subscription that can enhance the app. Pricing starts at 14 for a month of access with full use of all available features. The Iron IPTV service also provides the full EPG facilities in a simple layout that is both user-friendly and simple. Most apps can additionally accommodate all sorts of switching and buffering issues, failing to provide the same satisfactory services over long periods, or even back to back. Iron IPTV works with a great deal of professionalism and frequency across the many different types of applications available. It can be also vary slightly, but most are very simple and a fantastic difference to the original apps gained over other subscriptions. The official app can be downloaded to most devices with ease and has an authentic authenticator for proof of purchase and uniqueness.

Review can be the most prevalent way of deciding upon things before purchasing to save money when it is just not in the right frame. It is clearly incredibly important to everyone and highly recommended that all perspective customers read as many reviews as possible simply to be wary of any faults, service errors as well as a simple way to improve the general selection with Iron. Considering this, the user system collects all available reviews for display. Testimonials are an incredibly powerful way of displaying a service as opposed to what foundation reports. It’s all good displaying companies that can make something look brilliant, but nothing can beat real human emotion, feeling and appreciation for the benefits gained. This can be also a way to display the different types of image and name of the person that has done the written material. Ultimately this could cause potential copyright issues, so all names and picture contents are used with a disclaimer to only publish one’s own written opinions. Nevertheless, testimonials are the simplest compounds of displaying ones feelings and should only be considered positive to better all services. Iron IPTV is also incredibly different compared to most other subscriptions. Most trust the standard no-name provisions and often don’t progress there. There are an incredible five different apps available on Iron IPTV, each differing in layout and display mechanic. Basic and Lite are the most commonly used. Other subscriptions are incredibly keen to support a catch-up and video clubs, but are absolutely unforgiving of the general selection. These playlists make up almost 6 different services, 30000 videos of the club and 35000 available for catch up. Its compatibility with the widely requested Mag service makes the Iron app an incredibly different and flawless alternative. This can happen in a simple way for the pioneer in the industry to make the same like most other people instead of making a chance to change everything. Ultimately it is those differences in layout that will provide a great seal on the Iron. For those looking for a low-cost and strong service, simple layout, and diversity of EPG it is always advisable to go with Iron IPTV.

2.1. Features and Benefits of Iron IPTV

The incredible innovation in internet technology–IPTV–(Internet Protocol Television) service is an online TV service. It is easy to use and requires only an internet connection. It has been granted that instead of simple TV monitors, people will start watching TV screens online in the future. Therefore, the future of television is online. There are so many commercial IPTV services, but it is difficult to determine the best commercial IPTV service to buy. Two commercial IPTV services–Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV–are understood that the best commercial IPTV service will be after a deep comparison. There are many commercial offerings such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. Besides them, commercial IPTV offerings are also available–Iron IPTV, Atlas IPTV, Embratoria IPTV. While IPTV Pro is the best for the Android device, those commercial IPTV services are for multi-platform monitoring. Iron IPTV is a commercial IPTV service for multi-platform monitoring, for example, monitoring IP TV via Apple, Android, Samsung Smart, and LG Smart platforms. In addition to that, 15,000 live TV channels are available. There are also about 18,000 films/tv shows. So many films and TV shows can be watched, some have already aired some movies and TV shows, it is possible to watch them as box-office movies and series. This is the most important advantage of Iron IPTV. Unlike traditional TV services, IPTV services connect the user directly to the IPTV service provider server over the Internet via an IP connection, as the title suggests. With this, a direct internet connection is sufficient to consume the latest IPTV content provided directly by the IPTV broadcast center. The Iron IPTV services other benefits to the user: offers High Definition content, EPG, Compatibility with many platforms, various payment solutions, 7/24 Technical Support, Multi-device support, 7 Days Refund, 38k OD content. The content of this IPTV service library is growing daily and never stops growing. Also, you can request the content you want through technical support, which increases the user’s content options even more. In addition to general TV content, it is possible to have this service for sportive contests such as Bein Sports broadcast and Premium Football Leagues via a special negotiated contract. Easy to watch TV via stb, tv box, smartphone, smart tv, tablet, or pc. (Xiao et al., 2007). With a unique connection to the broadcast channel. It has almost all sports channels, also, $35 the cheapest service compared to others. Simple use, fast switching, there is an available HBBTV/Service in order to gain unique experiences via Stb, M3U, XCI, and E2/S2. In addition, the user can use STB-based customization like Parental Control or Block Bouquet. IPTV is revolutionary in many ways. The combination of television channels with the Internet is a mind-blowing option. The use of the content is also boosted the Turbo-mode limitlessly. Additionally, content can be seen easily without buffer thanks to advanced search and server stability.

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3. Overview of Atlas IPTV Service

In the field of communication technologies, media streaming is witnessing an unparalleled rise due to the rising popularity of on-line video streaming. The commercial development of the Internet has made streaming a relevant communications tool, a phenomenon also promoted by educational institutions via live lectures and seminars. The present has seen the emergence of a variety of technologies and applications for fast and effective streaming over a range of platforms. Among these, IPTV has a remarkable chance to claim its share, as the most effective and innovative path to arrive at many homes around the globe.

IPTV is the distribution of television content over Internet infrastructure. It carries itself in two formats, one to the set-top box on the client side, which converts it into a TV signal, and the other unicast to a device, such as a PC, tablet, or smartphone, which offers viewers the ability to watch programs on these platforms.

One recent and attractive product that has been customized and employed appealingly is Atlas. It is delightful due to its comprehensive content library and several programming packages along with accommodating its viewers with cultural and ethnic programs congruent to various communities such as Arabic, Farsi, and Kurdish, both in live and on-demand formats. These channels are not confined to Atlas; paired with the powerful Stalker Middleware software, Atlas has erected a strong marketplace far and wide. At the equivalent time, to this moment, very few scientific studies have been narrated concerning IPTV services and the move to bring one of these to the market, while only limited literature is reachable concerning plans to bring a paucity IPTV service to the market and no such literature can be observed concerning a plan to bring Atlas IPTV to the market.

3.1. Features and Benefits of Atlas IPTV

This subsection discusses the key features of Atlas IPTV that may appeal to a potential subscriber. These key features include video quality, the number of channels, and ability to watch wherever and whenever desired. Additionally, the benefits of these features are analyzed. These benefits include strategies for engaging users in the IPTV ecosystem that could contribute to both user satisfaction and operator profit. These user engagement strategies involve promotion of content discovery, promotion of user interaction and provision of recommendation services. Yet another feature that is discussed is a price and content distribution strategy for IPTV operators which shows that, for sufficiently low subscription prices, a subscription-based IPTV service can profitably be offered with fewer channels than those of traditional cable-TV operators.

Atlas IPTV is a fairly new innovative service currently in the development phase, which was shaped and designed in response to observed operator strategies. It avoids the fixed broadcast schedule of conventional TV, although it still provides “push” video content via special-purpose IP multicast channels. It places the power to fully control video channels at the viewer’s fingertips, enabling live video to be watched in any place on any suitably equipped device while providing a relatively limited set of enhancements for the viewer compared to traditional TV (Peoples et al., 2006).

4. Comparative Analysis of Iron and Atlas IPTV Services

There are numerous IPTV services that can be subscribed to due to the increasing number of service providers emerging in the market. A common question amongst those thinking of gaining IPTV is “What is the difference between Atlas and Iron Service?” Therefore, this analysis is going to show the differences between those 2 streaming applications. Starting with the price, IronIPTV has plans that are around $10 cheaper and they have a plan that is half the price of the cheapest plan on Atlas. Secondly, content is reviewed. In terms of quality, Atlas has USA/UK channels in FHD, while Iron only offers those channels in SD. Atlas also has a separate football package that is only $5, whereas Iron’s football package might already be counted in the plan price. Atlas also has a lot more major sporting networks included in the plan prices. Nordic and Ex-Yugo viewers might prefer Iron, as it has both those packages for the same price as Atlas. From a detailed price and content analysis, it is concluded that Iron IPTV has well-prepared plans for the lower price range, but its upper-tier plans are not worth it. Iron is better suited to Nordic and Ex-Yugo viewers. As for Iron IPTV, it is noted that clients can try multiple programs to see which one they like the most. As streaming applications are not forever, it is recommended staying up-to-date with programs. Atlas IPTV seems more developed at the moment, as it offers a lot more for a slightly higher price. Energized is recommended in terms of satisfaction with the user experience (Rajendran & Fennewald, 2020). When it comes to talking about bringing IPTV into the market, it can be easy to imagine just another new way to distribute television programmes. Despite this, the implementation of this service is problematic due to the requirement for strict quality conditions on the passband of transmission lines. IPTV has necessitated employment of high bit-rate lines and services, including streaming and ‘pay per view’. The creation of this test bed enables researchers to efficiently carry out the preparation of experiments tailored to examining solutions to particular IPTV implementation problems. Results from the analysis of a variety of experiments are presented and validated to confirm the test bed capacity accurately reproduces the passband effects of real transmission and distribution systems.

4.1. Content Offerings

Content offerings are, after all, the creator of value to the customer. The boisterous launch phase for IPTV has been characterized by the “network dinosaurs offer a bouquet of channels” period (Peoples et al., 2006). To get on with it, Atlas IPTV has 50 channels. The lineup provided by the “cable four” aren’t always the most innovative. But they are what is expected of television to reflect mainstream culture. Iron IPTV can proudly claim Devils, Villa, and Thunder each for at least half the week, although further up the Euston Road channels swathed in maroon edge off the rose-tinted glow. Can Atlas rival an Ashton Gate double bill? Bronze isn’t the kind of metal that counts; acceptance of the basics of niche broadcasting should suffice. When it’s knocking on 100 degrees the 24-hour rolling news station couldn’t be more apt. Maybe there really is a market for Pony TV (an Iron exclusive as it happens). Elsewhere, the travel and horse racing channels should keep shareholders banging on about the “synergy” value (Randal Ray, 2014). As things stand, Iron can claim the marginal gain through extensive foreign news output. A couple more in the Atlas kitbag would have been a good idea. Former opposition frontbenchers and overnight movie addicts alike could have been compelled to join up. That said, as the Betjeman documentary cycle shows, both are keen backers of the well-trodden, so a race for the obscure would have been out of character. Generally, Iron has a bit more content, peaking at that comic channel doubling-up with twist of +1. A quick straw poll suggests that such a feature, like districts in Monopoly and Lyon’s Corner Houses, is more elusive of the western transport node. Both offer some form of on-demand programming. Prestige movie Elephant is a strong offering from Atlas, a full five months before terrestrial debuts. An extensive library of Fools and Horses, on the other hand, can be found at Iron. Always after a better deal, though, the ability to rent films a full year before they’re shown will please the Monkfish heads. Uninitiated should, however, be warned that this is akin to choosing for an entire fraternity. Flicking through an agreeable list for twenty minutes before becoming bored and settling on Zulu will become a common occurrence. In sum, the choice of early services can be looked upon favorably, with the proportion of exclusive ladder-climbing towards the golden 100:1. Both licensed PVR services. Substantial VC backing has the advantage of providing an SD machine with TiVo software. Five weekly overnights rehearse the invariably disappointing 4am national output which, as a rule, can be ignored; due thanks go to the addition of “non-exclusive” in the small print of the press release. The Far Asian upstart, though, can still go one better. Liberal minorities or the cosmopolitan elite unsatisfied with their televised lot are well catered for on Iron. At last we can know what the Italian parliament is up to whilst taking in Canadian film noir gems. 10D’s platform is more about choice of channel, so there hasn’t been an experimental chance to scratch the surface of the remaining 400. It seems fair to assume that in the common parlance of venture capitalists, content will, eventually, be king. That Windsor/Chadavali wedding breakfast isn’t going to look so special when you can read the same report in Turkish. It’s a commendable start for both, but there’ll need a few corners refinanced.

4.2. User Interface and Experience

This chapter reviews the most relevant and current competitive assessment research related to Iron IPTV and Sports Donkey platforms. A qualitative approach is undertaken to aggregate and dissect commentary found in research literature, professional writers’ reviews, and user-generated assessments. The purpose of this is to explore how freelance scholars and mainstream subscribers have evaluated aspects of both Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV streaming platforms that are deemed most relevant in forming a determination as to which best aligns with one’s expectations as an IPTV service subscriber. Since Iron IPTV is the selected institutional “sponsor” of this research effort, said team is referred to in the first person from the perspective of “our IPTV[s].”

Iron IPTV offers on-demand access to premium U.S. and UK satellite content within affordable, one-month subscription purchases from inception as a customized online platform with simplified transactions. By contrast, Atlas IPTV platform membership requires the additional purchase of proprietary hardware devices and reoccurring purchases of its own line of mainstream satellite subscriptions for multiple premium content options abroad to be available for on-demand streaming delivery. As a norm, TV content is on broadcast scheduling (Cruickshank et al., 2007). Subscriptions to “IPTV” services are provider content offerings that, broadly, give those without traditional dish or cable connections access to TV access through other channels, residence broadband, or mobile Internet. Currently, because competition is keen among broad-based and program-specific IPTV enterprises, it is observed that online articles from news sources and research databases offering focused evaluations neighborhood some frequently covered assessment categories. Every month, thousands of subscribers evaluate their experiences with IPTV suppliers, normally revealing cherished treasures or grievances in elaborate customer evaluations. At times, feedback on quality and development opportunities transmitted to support services presents probable cues.

5. Technical Aspects

Iron and Atlas have a very close competition over the quality and quantity of the service. The user often faces perplexity over how the service would be better or which one to subscribe to. The basic idea behind the IPTV is the delivery of television content over the data network.

Performance indicators are a set of criteria that measure the quality and efficiency of the service that is delivered, in this case, the IPTV service. The quality of experience (QoE) is the user’s perspective on the quality of the service as they see it. The performance indicators of the IPTV service include channel change time, pixelation, and freeze time. All three performance indicators are a result of the ability of the IPTV service to deliver uninterrupted audio/video content on startup and during run under various network conditions. So, the main core concept behind the IPTVs is the ability to continuously stream audio and video over the internet. So, this works on the jitter buffer algorithm so to make content buffer before viewing time for uninterrupted content. And if the content is not buffered till the time, the freezelation occurs. The Freeze Time displays the total amount of time when the frame played on screen is not moving/streaming. On the other hand, pixelation is the result of streaming of low-quality content or on buffer/low bandwidth. It produces a very pixel content that is not understandable by viewers. The overall analysis on all indicators give an idea of how well IPTV service is in the technical aspects (Randal Ray, 2014).

There are different factors involved in low or good performance on the above-defined PIs. These depend on the server (infrastructure) that gives streaming, the internet speed, and the devices on which content is playing. First and most important, it’s the server from where the content is getting streamed. The performance on the channel change time mostly depends on server efficiency and host server location with respect to the service location. The home server is recommended, indeed, for low channel change time. Second most important factor is bandwidth. The bandwidth requirements need to run IPTV service varies according to streaming quality that the service offers, like from 3 MB’s for poor quality content i.e., 240p to 25 MB’s for 1080p content. The lower bandwidth provision would lead to freeze and pixel content on high-quality streaming. Last but not least, some technical resources are good to have service run properly that includes a good router, better internet service, and a good device so as to support android or other emulated service. Multiple device support is the best option too to have in case of troubleshooting issues.

Support to service on many devices, troubleshooting options within service, and better Industrial Design Interface (IDI) give a 6th sense realization of how well IPTV services are in the background. Iron resell has a few options for troubleshooting like refresh, change password, change m3u, restore, etc. Moreover, the service is limited to few devices like mag, stb, M3u, and PC. Comparatively, Atlas has more options of troubleshooting like buffering issues troubleshoot option within the service and is compatible with many devices like m3u, stb, iOS, PC, Android, etc. This troubleshooting and service compatibility on various platforms ideally lead to better performance and reliability of the service. All these running footprints conclude the background efficiency of the service.

5.1. Streaming Quality and Stability

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6. Subscription Plans and Pricing

IRON IPTV has got two subscription plans: regular and VIP. In the VIP plan, users will be able to watch UHD quality TV programs with no broadcast cuts. In the regular audience plan, IRON provides TV programs with a certain delay without any cut in full HD quality. The regular audience plan includes all features of the VIP plan, just TV broadcasts are with a delay and not in UHD quality and it is cheaper. There is a monthly fee option for both plans. Also, 1 year subscription discount is in all options. Also, there is a special promotion plan with the most suitable price advantage possible for the audience who want to try the program for the first time. This promotion does not include all the television, series, and movie groups and only subtitles are available for the series. Also another plan which is Daily DEMO plan could also be preferred by the audience to try the broadcast restrictions. This plan can be taken separately from others on a daily basis. Broadcasts include only bulgarian language channel groups and it only includes subtitles for some documentary type programs (Kumar Sar, 2022). ATLAS ISP provides a 7-day money-back guarantee. If the service does not work properly and the reason confirmed by the operators, which falls within the performance of the service, the money will be refunded once. However, the devices will be terminated. It is strictly forbidden to enter with different devices. The ownership will be lost and the user’s MAC address will be banned. ATLAS ISP provides extensive content services to the audience with several subscription options. As a discount, annual plans also available. Depending on the features and content of the channels, there are two different pricing categories. With this comparison, it will have been aimed to ensure that people and firms (such as hotels and cafes) who are planning to use IPTV services choose the most advantageous plan.

6.1. Comparison of Subscription Packages

IPTV providers use a sophisticated network to deliver the TV service to customer premises equipment located at subscriber homes. The network, comprising a backend, an aggregation network, and a distribution network, is typically proprietary. As residential IPTV deployments grow, so does interest in home networking using residential gateways. Specifying a standard home network interface in the commercial agreements between ISPs and IPTV providers would allow open access to the residential networks and reduce the CPE costs for ISPs. This paper investigates extensions to common residential network interfaces which could allow ISPs to use third-party CPE to vendor-specific back-ends.

This descriptive paper draws on measurements of live IPTV channel change times and discussions with parties in the IPTV arena involved in the determination of the methodology for resolving the channel change time requirements away from the substitution of previously agreed testing. Broadcasters and ISPs should have an interest in ensuring that their subscription IPTV service is topically aligned with the local market. Furthermore, competition law suggests that providers of subscription IPTV services should be able to verify their performance claims are correct. Clearly, there is a need to audit the broadcast time of advertisements of competitors. The order of the commercial agreements allowing the delivery of their media to proprietary home networks has not been disclosed. There is no public information available for the specification of the home network interface used in the backend.

7. Customer Support and User Feedback

One of the most underappreciated, yet arguably most important aspects of a quality IPTV experience is the availability of receptive and supportive customer service representatives (CSR). Iron IPTV features 24/7 CSR availability through either a website ticket system or email, both of which are only somewhat acceptable. Judging from subscribers’ comments, the response time often exceeds 24 hours, with some reports of inquiries going unanswered or receiving generic unhelpful responses. The CSR for Atlas IPTV may only be contacted via a ticket system, with responses during working hours on weekdays only, but many testimonials found that the team is far more responsive, knowledgeable, and helpful with inquiries or issues (Rajendran & Fennewald, 2020).

Arguably, the most important aspect of an IPTV corporate structure ensuring prompt and helpful CS is user feedback and the importance the company places on it. Unfortunately, the majority of major IPTV resellers either have no means of rating and feedback from subscribed users or disable it outright on popular sites. Those comments that still remain indicate widely varying levels of success with a purchased subscription, with many reporting similar issues and resolutions. Most users have concerns over a lack of channel support, buffering and stream optimization issues, or difficulties installing/setup and corresponding with help or guides. It’s evident that for many, choosing an IPTV service is essentially a game of chance; with many horror stories inevitable to repeat, as the prospect of subscription with poor customer service interactions or even outright scamming looms. Understanding this context is all the more reason to commend companies like Atlas with well-developed customer support that offers guidance, assurance, legitimacy, and above all else, trust in the high seas of the IPTV market. In fact, many of the biggest IPTV services have gained such a notorious reputation for lacking customer support or even outright scamming that any demonstration of effective support is a notable industry exception.

7.1. Response Time and Availability

This subsection analyzes the response time of the customer support of Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV services as well as their availability. The effectiveness and availability of each service’s customer support channels are determined by the service response times of live chat, e-mail, and phone, statistics on each customer support channel’s availability, and the service representative’s response. Iron IPTV’s average customer dispute resolution time is 25 minutes faster than Atlas IPTV, but Atlas IPTV’s customer reviews appreciate their customer support more.

Service response times are analyzed based on the efficiency of solving customer problems. Response time is especially important for a paid service. On average, a paid service has a problem that requires customer support to solve once a month (Peoples et al., 2006). The monthly support to customer ratio is used to compare the average monthly support time. Both live chat and e-mail support from Iron IPTV are much faster than its forum support. Live chat has a higher availability than e-mail and phone support. It is important to invest customer support resources wisely. Iron IPTV’s live chat channel investments have improved customer support efficiency. There is potentially a large demand for customer support during peak hours, and a correlation is observed between the availability of customer support during peak hours and the quality of service (Randal Ray, 2014). It is important to consider this in the future.

Both services have sent representative responses that emphasize the training and expertise of their customer support representatives. The availability of customer support 24 hours a day and their ability to solve all problems related to their service are particularly emphasized. This is very important, for example, to restore service as quickly as possible in case of a severe problem with the service. The effectiveness of the service representative or the quality of the training of the service representatives can be supplementary. Finally, it is important to ensure a seamless transition between customer support teams for non-standard customer support requests.

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8. Legal and Copyright Considerations

There are important legal underpinnings to the data presented above. This discussion does not constitute legal advice, but rather is a layman’s interpretation that underpins the material within. This review is situated within the terms of compliance with relevant copyright law and also draws on a “legitimate” source of programming from those rights holders who are South Asian based but provide programming to international audiences. In brief, the review is legal, has sought legal advice, and has licenses to publish this content.

The unique “doom and gloom” legal disclaimer at the onset of this review is reflective of a number of legal questions which underpin the delivery of copyright protected video content over the Internet. In the United States, broadcast material is protected by copyright statute and also communications law. Copyright law is perhaps more applicable in this instance, as it relates to the rights of the owner of a copyrighted work. That owner has six principle sets of rights under the law: exclusively reproduce the work, prepare derivative works, distribute copies of the work, publicly perform the work, display the work publicly, and perform a digital audio transmission publicly, the bastard child of all these exclusives. There is an argument that article establishes visual images on a televisions screen and also reproduces audio content. However, the focus will be on the public performance angle, particularly in televising a work for audiences where such work would typically be viewed in private (Fund et al., 2016). Given the focus of this service and most others operating in this marketplace, it is the last element of the public performance definition which is undesired: to display the work at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of family and social acquaintances is gathered. The novelty of this service is that, similarly to a cable provider, this is a private transmission—individual IPTV broadcasts to individual subscribers. There have been a number of legal cases within this arena in recent months. In these cases the service provider is broadcasting to the public; an important distinction. All broadcasts are considered public performance; not merely an

8.1. Content Licensing and Copyright Policies

The operations of both IPTV services adhere strictly to the content licensing and copyright policies detailed in what follows. These services obtain IPTV streams from dedicated distributions that acquire rights for the content. The distribution of IPTV ensures that the necessary agreements are in place between content providers and distributors. The IPTV service confirms that its distributor has the required rights and informs subscribers to seek agreements if needed. These practices have been developed to ensure that streams come from legitimate sources, to avoid potential illegalities in the IPTV space with unauthorized use. Viewers should be aware that this is not the case with most other services and that watching such streams can have legal repercussions for them. Ever-evolving copyright laws and regulations have and will continue to significantly affect the operation of IPTV services and the availability of the content. It is vital that viewers or potential subscribers understand this, because the business approach to comply or not with these regulations has a direct impact on the integrity of their operations and the range of the service offerings, and this, in turn, will shape user experience with their services.

In compliance with copyright and licensing regulations, IPTV: 1. Does not provide any playlists; 2. Does not provide any epg sources of their service; 3. Does not sell premium sports channels; 4. Does not provide any video on demand content for 3 days after its initial broadcast; 5. Does not allow their token setup to be changed by users; 6. Does not offer access to Adult channels. IPTV service: 1. Uses the location information of content provided to avoid violating channels required; 2. Verifies the privacy status of all links it provides to content; 3. Only provides the users with their content-specific viewing location at their request; 4. Offers to disable token usage for users over shared insights of possible policy violations.

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9. Future Trends in IPTV Services

The future trends of the IPTV industry are examined. The TV industry is continuously innovating and introducing new technologies that shape the way people watch broadcast TV services. Different IPTV trends that will likely be launched causing the competition of two IPTV services, Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV, are investigated and compared on the live TV, VOD, and EPG offerings. Recommendations are also provided for Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV to capture the potential IPTV market. Residence is a place, which people are expecting entertainment to relax, and usually spend the largest amount of their time. With the development of technologies, TV has become people’s necessary entertainment tools. IPTV is the newest offering in telecommunications, providing a superior television experience at reduced long-term costs. It is predicted that the Global IPTV industry is expected to grow with a remarkable CAGR. The TV broadcasting industry is considered to be concentrated market, which will likely lead to few properties controlling the broadcasting rights. This place barriers for new competitors entering the market, unless they have an innovative technology or come up with a cost-effective solution. IPTV, as the latest offering in the TV broadcasting industry, also needs to consider these barriers to provide excellent service and capture the market share. There are different IPTV trends that will likely be launched in the next few years, which can shape the way people watch IPTV services. The seamless integration of IPTV, VOD, and broadband Internet access is considered to be the essential selling point of Triple Play. Other additional services have been launched and integrated into the IPTV services, such as Catch Up TV. This is a service, which allows the viewers to watch their favorite television broadcasts at an Internet site within a time frame after it was broadcasted. The use of video will be evolving and becoming the main content in the Internet’s traffic. Different codec technology has been launched that will help to reduce the size of the data transmission packet while maintaining the same quality of video image. This technology can be implemented by the broadcasting technology industry to ensure the high Quality of Service (QoS) of the TV services (Xiao et al., 2007). In the future, it is expected that there will be a better development in the codec technology; after that, the TV broadcasting industry will have certain agreements to adopt this technology to ensure the QoS of the service. With that, attractive TV services can be provided to the viewers, which will increase the demand and further expand the market. Finally, in comparison to today’s TV services, IPTV must have an additional technological function, which can be activated by a traditional TV, computer, or set-top box.

9.1. Emerging Technologies

IPTV services are overwhelmingly dominated by the network-based providers, a role that Frontier does not participate in. AT&T has the largest percent penetration of any provider at MTSU (slightly over 20% of the on-campus community). Regionally and nationally, the satellite providers garner the most market share. A very recent entry into the IPTV service industry presents a new option, launching just over a year ago. Its fortunes were guided by partners who share many similar characteristics—down to a shared facility in Franklin County. Conversely, its nearest competition, Frontier, is a giant in the telecommunications world and sets the household standard in speed Internet connection for most areas it serves. Currently, this IPTV service offers an internet-based service, the efficiency of which we will examine through the primary survey data.

From an operational perspective, IPTV is the most complex of the TV distribution models in the United States. To deliver the service, the provider must not only install and maintain a satellite dish and receivers, but they must also equip each household with a set-top-box. This box is responsible for tuning into the digital signal and sending the video stream to the home television. This is coupled with a return signal that goes back to a headend allowing for the interactive features. And, of course, the service is transmitted on the backbone of a high-speed internet connection. For this service, this means the installation and maintenance of routers, coax to ethernet modems, and the set-top-box. This complexity is most likely why for all the advancements in TV technology, there have been seemingly little effects on the shaping of the IPTV industry.

10. Conclusion and Recommendations

Atlas IPTV service displays a solid performance with the speed of channel changes followed by quick start up time of the channels. The receiver box itself worked smoothly and the diversity of various EPG arrangements are beneficial in the Atlas IPTV selection. However, the challenge was constantly decreasing number of channels to zero within 5 minutes time which is not amused when compared to 25 minutes finishing time. Iron IPTV showed weak performance in terms of viewing experience quality metrics. There is a quite long freezing time and the most of the times the video freezes were not recoverable, which was equipped with long ingrained Buffer Loading Time. In the Iron IPTV service, it was observed that the BLT is a prime contributor to the View Time Ratio. Sadly, after encountering the recoverable freezes, the video immediately jumps into the next event sequence, skipping the intervals that caused the freeze, which appeared as a second strong negative impact to VTR.

Subscribers have a project perspective on the quality of service and viewing experience within the study of testing of the Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV services. Subscribers are provided with some wise suggestions to make up their own minds towards the IPTV service to choose. As a matter of fact, the most suitable IPTV service provider’s service, which can price and offer consumer preferences, viewing habits, native language group indicators, for desired channel packages. Since the choice of the perfect service for each viewer will depend on individual requirements and viewing behavior, and each IPTV service provider has a particular pattern of streaming terminal to viewers, and even running their investments in a particular way, this should also be beneficial to the IPTV industry in promoting to providers and technological vendors in R&D investments. Furthermore, due to the significant effect of the BLT algorithm, IPTV service providers usually update the existing smart terminal software and invest the latest and hardware investments into the investment production. With the aim of minimizing consumer substations, it is proposed that IPTV subscribers regularly check the streaming terminal and the smart terminal software running on the receiver Box.

10.1. Summary of Findings

In order to provide a more informative and constructive message available services need to be reviewed properly. The service was intended to test IPTV service. So options of services were available, and two of these services provided usage. Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV services are being reviewed. It can be assumed that service options are already scaled down by the potent subscribers when the services are compared. In the first part of this study, a summary is provided that aggregates findings from a number of sections. In the second part, the legal issue between streaming and service providers is described for assessment.

Iron IPTV and Atlas IPTV are considered as a whole with the scope of profit. They are examined from the subscribers’ perspective since published content, in general acknowledges the profit centered perspective i.e. the point of view of content creators and vendors. Comparative analysis of the services has been carried out with the purpose of contributing to the robust information about these types of services and formulating a roadmap for potential subscribers.

Most of the content available in these services is composed of TV series and movies. Among these two categories, almost all of the movies, and most of the series is recent productions up to the year of the services being examined 2021, and then recent productions are those of the last 3 years, i.e. after 2018. The rest of the content consists of documentaries and live TV programs. Comparatively the number of these is very few. Iron IPTV service provides a wider variety of content, including that which is published in less popular countries. On the other hand, Atlas IPTV service offers a wider choice of content published in more popular countries. All of the content is local productions of the consuming society for both parties.

The attempts of the comparison of the technical performance are inadequate due to the relatively very small number of relevant sources. It has not been possible to find a published scientific study exploring technical performance as specific as this. Although there are publications espousing the concoct story of industry, almost all of the voiced there are general statements, and also unsubstantiated. Aside from that, the considerable technical data that must be known in order to make a good comparison are private to the services; it is also legally protected. Therefore, trying to comment on this might even be outside the scope of academic freedom.

References:

Xiao, Y., Du, X., & Zhang, J., 2007. Internet protocol television (IPTV): The Killer application for the next-generation internet. [PDF]

Peoples, C., Dini, P., McClean, S., Parr, G., & Black, M., 2006. Bringing IPTV to the Market through Differentiated Service Provisioning. [PDF]

Rajendran, S. & Fennewald, J., 2020. Improving Services Offered by Internet Providers by Analyzing Online Reviews using Text Analytics. [PDF]

Randal Ray, T., 2014. Improved IPTV channel change times through multicast caching of pre-selected channels. [PDF]

Cruickshank, L., Tsekleves, E., Hill, A., Whitham, R., & Kondo, K., 2007. Making interactive TV easier to use: Interface design for a second screen approach. [PDF]

Kumar Sar, A., 2022. Price estimation for Amazon Prime video in India. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Fund, F., Amir Hosseini, S., & S. Panwar, S., 2016. Under a cloud of uncertainty: Legal questions affecting Internet storage and transmission of copyright-protected video content. [PDF]