Project Canvas Explained
Project Canvas, which was launched originally on December 11 2008, is nothing else than an initiative to materialise an on-demand television service for TV sets through a set-top box connected with broadband internet. The concept that was initially visualised by a partnership between BBC, ITV and BT, today is endorsed by six entities including the BBC, ITV plc, Channel 4, Five and internet service providing firms TalkTalk and BT.
The launch process can be found as gradual as the project announced the signing up of Five to it on 2009 July 30, followed by the announcement that TalkTalk and Channel 4 also signing up to it. This happened in 2009 December 16. Today the six Project Canvas partners expect the enthusiasm of more interested companies to participate in the project. Furthermore, the existing partners have also announced that all the freshly signing up partners would be granted a proportion of shares par with the them in the freshly launched joint venture firm.
The platform created by the project, according to the plans of the partners, would be offered to the service and content developer community as well as the consumers as a promotion. The creation of a consumer brand – different from Canvas – is also a constituent in the plans of the partners that will be licensed to broadband providing firms and device manufacturers, who tend to meet the specifications. The devices that are compliant with Canvas – such as set-top boxes – are expected to offer seamless service access to an array of third party services via a simple, common consumer experience. Nonetheless, the devices are required to be developed in accordance to a common technical standard.
The Project Canvas is marked by three vital elements. They are the technical standard setting, technical platform development and finally the creation of the consumer experience.
The Project Canvas first came as a proposal from the executive of BBC, on which a public consultation was launched by the BBC Trust on 2009 February 26. This was, as a matter of fct, launched with a view to develop a partnership to see that the delivery of the internet protocol TV was enabled. The delivery of IPTV, in its turn, would enable the viewers to enjoy on-demand services through the TV sets.
Eventually, a provisional approval was given to the involvement of BBC in Project Canvas by the BBC Trust on 2009 December 22. This came along with a ruling that the proposal’s likely public value justified all potentially negative impacts on the market. It is understood that the term of consultations on the provisional conclusions will end on 2010 February 2, following which the Trust would take its final decision. The BBC Trust has estimated the cost of the project to exceed GBP 115 million in its initial 4 years of functioning.
He set-top boxes pertinent to the Project Canvas are expected to arrive in late 2010. The system shall provide access to the own VOD of the broadcasters, although a promise has been also made alongside to provide a kit of the software developers (SDK), which would encourage web content on the screen. Another promise made by Canvas is to provide the content owners who expect a return for their content, with payment mechanisms.
On the other hand, the major critics of the Project Canvas are the Intellect Technology Association of the United Kingdom and the leading broadband provider operating in the country, Sky. The former’s complaint is on the grounds that the project risked isolating the country as a technological island in the world market by initiating the creation of an exclusive set-top box of IPTV standards for just United Kingdom. Sky’s criticism is bitterer that it marked the utilisation of the public money to provide the public service broadcasters with a foothold in the all-vital IPTV, risking the welfare of the private sector.
