TV2U have always had a Head-End in Malaysia which was always...

TV2U have always had a Head-End in Malaysia which was always used to stream content to demo apps. As a long termer you no doubt would have sat in from of Nick when he flashed his phone or tablet with WATCH ARABIAN TV or BV SPORTS apps he had right from the start.

That Head-End has the capability to stream live or VOD content but typically from what I remember it might not have had full Geo-locking or scalable streaming capability. Since that time TV2U has gone cloud and Amazon with its architecture so it probably has a service equivalent to that KL Head-end in the ether as being cloud its anywhere and nowhere at the same time, so a quick demo can be done when using cloud architectures.

A demo is a controlled event instance that could be streamed from either a traditional Test system Head-End or a cloud Amazon equivalent without much fuss as it does not need to fully exploit all system features to work. If you look at the larger go-live strategy for PGASCOM, TV2U are looking for a fast take-up of subscribers which the cloud side of things does automatically without TV2U needing to buy anymore hardware as its just a new cloud resource brought to bear as a service as required so a quick demo can be done when using cloud architectures.

However most Asian countries are grappling with data and privacy issues so what CASBAA talked about is many operators of OTT are deploying a model where the cloud handles and scales with demand many aspects of the service but maybe not all. A full system launch will have a different look and feel to a simple demo.

For security reasons the data metrics or customer and possibly payment metrics in full OTT system operations are often forced to be held in the client secure data centre where it is behind their fire-walls and under Pgascom effective control, typically then satisfying their own internal data and privacy policies.

Its that sort of ramping up that would compel hardware and storage expansion via purchase of hardware kit into their data centre. Depending on how the data is being held in the CDN TV2U may have to host that outside the cloud and so scale up before launching.

Some companies like Netflix are very cloud embedded in Amazon while others are part in the cloud and part within their own technology Head-Ends or in the client data centres. There is more than one model out there.

The announced hardware purchase signals preparedness for launch in my opinion and I am personally taking a longer timeframe for final hard launch in my calculations for setting expectations of when the real operating revenue starts to flow.

I do not expect everyone to agree with that opinion but I try to be conservative in these matters so those without any industry exposure do not panic if its not next week as that does not signal disaster it to me simply signals a process is being followed that just takes a bit longer than what some anticipate.

There is alot of volatility in words and share price right now and I like to see past short termism and take a longer view where I think I can feel confident the outcomes I look for will in all likelihood be happening by that time.

Thats just me and it keeps me out of the reactivity that sometimes plagues short term thinking and creates alot of heat on forums like this one. All IMO.