First came old reliable over-the-air or broadcast TV. Then came cable TV, followed quickly by satellite TV.

Now IPTV – Internet Protocol-based TV – is making its presence felt in Maine.

The most advanced telecommunications network in Maine now is capable of reaching 7,000 homes with voice, high-speed Internet and IPTV services using fiber-optic lines connected to each home. And it can provide a full array of cable options, high-speed Internet and telephone with unlimited long-distance calling for about $130 a month, but no HDTV yet.

It is Oxford Networks, located in Lewiston-Auburn, and it’s leading Maine into the 21st century, at least in terms of telecommunications.

While voice and high-speed Internet can be found elsewhere in the state, thus far, Oxford Networks is the lone provider of IPTV service in Maine, an offering which includes a set-top box that converts the IPTV signal into one that any TV can then display. This brings a whole range of new TV services to eager customers, including on-demand TV content.

While IPTV bears a strong resemblance to digital cable TV, it is quite different in character. For one thing, IPTV is delivered to your home in much the same manner as the Internet content that you view on your PC. And by using what is known as IP multicast technology, only the channel the customer requests is delivered to the home and then the TV in question, a feature which consumes far less bandwidth, or network capacity, than cable TV, which delivers all channels to the home all the time.

“All other bandwidth, which is 1.2 gigabits or 1.2 billion bits per second on our fiber is free to be used for other services,” says Todd Dewitt, chief technology officer at Oxford Networks. “All in all, IPTV allows for a much richer viewing experience that blends pure programming content with reviews, product and service offerings, and other contextual information. Web browsing on your TV, and caller ID on screen are among the many options IPTV offers.”

What also sets this IPTV service apart from all other cable TV services in Maine is that it is delivered via Fiber To The Premises or FTTP technology – often called Fiber To The Home or FTTH as well.

“This means that unlike more traditional cable deliveries that run fiber to the pole then copper to the premise, we run fiber from the pole directly to the premise,” says Dewitt.

“Running fiber directly to the premise allows us to deliver virtually unlimited bandwidth to each building. As new bandwidth-intensive technology is developed, we are able to easily adapt without needing to install new wire. We also increase security, and decrease connection latency – a term which describes the delay experienced as signals travel back and forth over a network.”

IPTV is ideal for anyone seeking interactivity and the ability to use the TV programming stream as a pathway to other links, and other devices, both portable and mobile. This is perhaps the one part of IPTV that the public has the hardest time understanding.

“Because TV has been a very passive experience for virtually all of us, trying to convey the changes that IPTV allows to a broad market is challenging. TV is in a state of change right now,” says Steve Perry, product manager. “Educating the viewing audience is and will remain the single largest task in front of any advanced service provider for the foreseeable future. Issues that the consumer must sort out over the next few years include the conversion to a digital TV set, the possibility of an upgrade to High Definition or HDTV, IPTV programming, and the convergence of Internet and TV functionality. That is no small plate of changes for people to take in and feel comfortable with.”

And while in an increasing number of networked homes, people are bouncing those TV signals all around their homes using a mix of TVs and PCs, we will have to hold off on any detailed discussion about in-home networking and content distribution. Just be aware that all sorts of devices from PCs down to iPods are capable of sharing content that was once the exclusive domain of the TV set.

IPTV in this instance amounts to 101 digital TV channels and 52 digital music channels, and a whole assortment of movie packages, 34 additional channels in all, including HBO, Cinemax, Showtime Unlimited, and Starz Super Pak.

Oxford Networks is best known for its fiber-based commercial networking services which extend from Bangor to Boston, for customers including Northeast Bank and Webber Energy Fuels. In 2000, Oxford Networks became what is known as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, or CLEC, in Norway, meaning that it had made up its mind to start competing directly with Verizon, the well-known offspring of, among others, the old New England Telephone Company which then became NYNEX.

Laying fiber-optic lines directly to the home and delivering IPTV services over these lines is becoming more and more popular in many parts of the country. Oxford Networks first started to evaluate IPTV in 2000. The company’s executives visited a number of IPTV systems, including the one in Kutztown, Pa., which deployed equipment virtually identical to what is now here in Maine. Oxford Networks hopes to add lots of new customers all across Central and Western Maine.

Using fiber in this manner just adds more capacity or potential bandwidth to a network, far more than the traditional copper wire which is used in conventional phone lines. How much capacity? Try about 10 GB per second on the high end. That’s 10 billion bits per second, and the industry is quickly upgrading to capacity four times that.

“Our customers tend to purchase products in a bundle,” says Matthew Jancovic, marketing and IPTV product manager at Oxford Networks.

So how much are you going to spend if you want phone, high-speed Internet and IPTV from Oxford Networks? How about a monthly fee of $108.71. Bump it up to include a full phone feature pack for $6.95, and unlimited long distance for $17.95 and your total monthly bill comes to $133.61.

Keep in mind that HDTV is not available, not yet anyway.

“We are working on HDTV right now,” says Jancovic. “Thus far, the lack of available IPTV HDTV set-top boxes has been our largest hindrance to releasing HD.”

In effect, Oxford Networks is now doing in its Maine territory exactly what all the big phone and cable companies are talking about doing. In many parts of the country, new housing developments with fiber already in place are fast becoming the rule rather than the exception. When it comes to residential high-speed Internet service, Oxford Networks is way ahead of the pack in Maine.

“Our standard residential high-speed Internet Service is 5 megabits per second [MB/s]. We are working on additional plans that will be released in the future at much greater speeds,” said Jancovic. “Again, due to our fiber network, we are able to deliver gigantic amounts of bandwidth to each premise.”

Oxford Networks offers high-speed Internet-only service for $37.95 per month.

Given the high-speed Internet advantage that this IPTV system provides, is Augusta ready to embrace IPTV via FTTP as part of its Maine Connect initiative, for example? IPTV is ideal for distance learning and video conferencing, among other things.

“Oxford Networks has not applied to the state for any regulatory relief, nor is the state providing any specific considerations to IPTV that it is not providing to traditional cable TV companies,” says Perry. “Oxford Networks has worked closely with the municipalities that we provide service to and enjoy a strong relationship with them. IPTV on its own is not part of Maine Connect; however, the infrastructure that supports IPTV could serve to further the goals of Maine Connect.”

IPTV may seem quite remote to most Maine TV viewers today, but rest assured that IPTV and FTTP are going to gain considerable traction here over the coming months.

Peter J. Brown, a freelance writer from Mount Desert, began covering the IPTV sector several years ago.