In this era of advanced technology, it will not be surprising to see content created by friends and family on the television screen in the near future. Very soon there will be a choice to see User Generated Content (UGC) and real-time personalised information, as opposed to regular broadcast content.

Video content is all set to make an impact on the way people communicate as major industry players are already working on the idea of sending bulky video files through wireless networks, by making it available on portable devices. This will lead to the rise of community TV and personalised TV, where one creates the content relevant to them.

Organisations are exploring the layered video method to generate extra capacity and bandwidth. This will lead to twice the channel usage. In this domain, Alcatel-Lucent is doing research to provide seamless mobility and access to personalised services, converging data, voice and video. “We are already in the process of prototyping, doing simulations and live trials to make these concepts a reality,” says Rajeev Rastogi, Executive Director, Alcatel-Lucent Technologies India.

Besides, telecos are also researching rich interactivity, voting and viewer participation, gaming and gambling, targeted advertising, video telephony and instant messaging.

Using personalised IPTV system from Alcatel-Lucent, service providers can provide desired content to customers. “For each topic of interest there are separate, personalised channels, for news, cartoons — as per your liking,” says Rastogi.

A major drawback in user generated content is scaling up the system to a huge community, which may be a daunting task. The technical quality will also be questionable, when compared to paid content.