Cashing in on Internet Protocol Television

An IPTV booth at an international Internet exhibition in Beijing. The annual turnover of China's information technology and telecommunication industries is set to hit $602.3 billion by 2020. Provided to China Daily

Technology marks a great leap forward for business, say industry analysts

As the five rings finally blossomed during the closing ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, television broadcasters were celebrating the breaking of yet another world record.

TV and online audiences around the globe were witnessing a new chapter in telecommunications history: the first time the Olympics had been televised throughout the event over Internet Protocol Television, meaning no additional cables had to be laid.

The industry breakthrough could also mean business opportunities for John Wang, Greater China head of Avaya Inc, whose networking and Unified Communications technology helped to provide seamless voice, video and data coverage throughout the event.

The company also employed IPTV for the Paralympics, also held in the Russian city.

"Helping the organizing committee in Sochi could bring us deals in markets outside Russia because the game perfectly showcased our capability in the industry," said Wang, a Shanghai native and an information technology veteran.

More than 75,000 people visited the Sochi Olympic Park and at least 3 billion watched TV broadcasts around the globe each day, according to the organizers.

Media, athletes and coaches were able to tap into 36 IPTV channels across the Avaya network infrastructure. This meant a reporter watching the figure skating live in the Bolshoy Ice Dome could also watch the downhill skiing on high-digit TV.

News photographers had instant-upload access to thousands of pictures from wireless-enabled cameras, from the moment an athlete crossed the finish line.

Wang said the effective communication network Avaya built in Sochi will set the pace for the adoption of similar technologies in China.

"We are looking at small and mid-sized enterprises for business growth in China this year," he told China Daily on a laptop running high-definition video conferencing software developed by Radvision, an Avaya subsidiary.

Wang and his China team use the enterprise grade multi-party mobile video collaboration platform on a daily basis to hold meetings.

It was "enjoyable" to be a frequent user of a product made by the company for which he is working, said Wang, a software engineer who became an executive.

"The Chinese market has fully embraced the 'mega' trends in modern IT," said Wang.

"Technology such as cloud computing and big data has become the engine to push China's innovation as well. WeChat, a popular instant messaging application, is a vivid example of how Chinese companies lead industry by taking advantage of technology."

Avaya is looking to further strengthen its research and development capabilities in China in a localization process using its innovations and services. The company did not disclose details of the plan but Wang emphasized localization is one of the priorities of the company in China. This involves localization of the team, products and applications to better meet the needs of local customers.

Unlike Wang's first job as an engineer at a Sino-Japanese joint venture, his current employment requires a much stronger ability to look at the bigger picture, from service and sales to channels across the entire China market.

"It's a challenging job but also very intriguing for me," Wang admitted.

Prior to joining Avaya, Wang was vice-president of Cisco Systems' China channel sales unit

Wang always tries to reduce his off-work schedule to a calmer and slower pace - a lifestyle worshiped by traditional Shanghai culture.

Although he is working for a company that always underlines the importance of communication, Wang likes to spend some time alone to enjoy a short period of peace.

Walking and swimming, the top two sports that involve the least amount of speaking, are Wang's ways of avoiding his daily business tasks.

"I am also a devoted reader," Wang said. "But I feel sad that I don't have much time to read nowadays because of my increasing workload."

China's booming demand for next-generation communications technology is a focus of the government over the next several years, officials and experts said.