Subscriber Management

Subscriber Management Entities

• Service Account
• Device
• User Profile
• Service Bundle
• Pricing Plan
• Price List
• Discount

The diagram below demonstrates the relationship of these entities:

Diagram 1. Relationship of SmartTUBE SDP subscriber management entities

Service Account

Service Account contains information about a subscriber and uniquely identifies it on the platform. It is characterized by a unique identifier, status (active, blocked, etc.), and login/password common for all subscriber’s devices (used for device authenticating).

The following operations can be performed on Service Accounts:

• Multiple Devices can be linked to a Service Account for using them in parallel by a subscriber.
• The set of services available to the subscriber is determined by the Pricing plan assigned to the Service Account. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to a Service Account.
• Multiple User Profiles containing personalized content consumption restrictions and settings can be assigned to the Service Account.
• Operator can specify the trial period for the account and manage its duration, along with setting the account status after the trial period expires.
• Management and synchronization of the linked SmartTUBE SDP and OSS/BSS accounts are performed via SmartTUBE API. Subscriber’s personal data is stored on the OSS/BSS side only.

Device

Device uniquely identifies subscriber’s device on the platform. Each Device can only be linked to a single Service Account and characterizes by

• Unique identifier (UID)
• Device Type: Determines the device functionality when interacting with the platform. For example, use different TV streams on devices of different type, use different banners or channel logos, etc.
• Individual login/password used for authenticating device on the platform.

Operator can perform the following actions with Devices:

• Limit the number of Devices that can be linked to the same Service Account (with differentiation by device type) and/or simultaneously consuming services. Subscribers can exceed the set limits by purchasing a corresponding Service Bundle.
• Link Devices to a specific region, allowing for the management of regional streaming.
• Enable/disable DVB-T input, unprotected analog outputs, and HDCP protection of HDMI outputs on STBs that support this functionality.
• Factory reset and reboot on STBs
• Create an SSH tunnel to Devices (if it is technically possible)
• Manage firmware and installed apps on Linux and Android-based STBs, as well as configuration parameters on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including mobile and Smart TV platforms. These actions are performed with SmartTUBE Device Manager.

User Profile

User Profile contains individual age restrictions for viewing/purchasing content and TV channel sorting settings. Each User Profile also stores individual viewing history, lists of favorite channels, movies, reminders, recordings, and purchased movies.
Multiple User Profiles can be linked to the Service Account, meaning they can be shared across all Devices linked to the Service Account.

Profiles have the following set of parameters:

• Nickname
• Collection of Profile Icons to choose from
• PIN code: Used to secure the profile from unauthorized access and editing, and to prevent unauthorized purchases of content and subscriptions to services.
• Default Access Level: The highest age rating of content that a user can view without entering a PIN. Content with a higher age rating is considered adult content.
• Maximum access level: The highest age rating of content to be displayed in the TV channel list and VoD library. Content rated above this level is hidden from the app’s UI.

Pricing Plan

Pricing Plan is a collection of multiple Service Bundles and Discounts that enable operator to manage the service provisioning rules for subscribers. For this purpose, the Pricing Plan is assigned to the subscribers’ Service Accounts. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to the same Service Account. Each Pricing Plan can be shared across multiple Service Accounts.

Pricing Plan allows to control the following provisioning conditions of each Service Bundle and Discount:

• Validity period of the bundle/discount within the Pricing Plan
• Type of devices to which the bundle/discount to be applied
• Bundle/discount status at the time the Pricing Plan is applied. Can be Active, Not active or Invisible (the bundle/discount is disabled and hidden for subscribers).
• Duration following the Pricing Plan activation, after which the bundle/discount becomes inactive.

• Allow subscribers to enable/disable the bundle/discount in the app
• Hide the bundle/discount from subscribers within the app. This way, the bundle/discount can only be activated by the operator or through subscription to other dependent bundles/discounts.
• Hide the bundle/discount after unsubscribing and set the corresponding Service Account state accordingly

Service Bundle

Service Bundle is a collection of content or services offered to subscribers for a fee or at no cost. For the Service Bundle to be available to subscribers, it must be included into the Pricing Plan. Multiple Service Bundles can be included into multiple Pricing Plans.

The cost of a Service Bundle for a subscriber is determined by the Price Lists.

SmartTUBE supports the following types of Service Bundles:

• TV Channel Bundle: A collection of channels provided to subscribers within the bundle.
• DVR Bundle: A set of TV channel with Catch-up services enabled. It offers control over archive storage depth, as well as the provision of TSTV and/or Pause Live services for each channel individually.
• VoD Bundle: Outlines the pricing model (TVoD, SVoD, AVoD, FVoD) for the movies/series within the bundle, their linkage to the operator’s local movie/series library or external content providers, offline movie viewing capabilities, and connection to a VAST server for AVoD content.
• nPVR Bundle: A collection of channels eligible for nPVR services. It allows to manage the following bundle attributes:
  • Recording Time Quota: Maximum duration of all subscriber recordings.
  • Recording Storage Quota: Storage duration of subscriber recordings.
  • Notification Quota Level: Threshold at which the subscriber is notified about approaching to the Recording Time Quota.
  • Quota Overspending Limit: Maximum amount a user can go over their Recording Time Quota. If the quota is exceeded, the user must delete the extra recordings before scheduling more.
  • Restriction to record the ongoing or finished TV programs
  • nPVR Duration: Period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed.
• PPV Bundle: Sets the pricing rules for pay-per-view TV programs. The operator can choose to charge a fixed price for the whole program or charge based on the minutes watched.
• Device / Session Limit as a Bundle: Allows subscribers to increase the number of devices linked to the Service Account and/or Devices simultaneously consuming services beyond the limit set by the operator.

Price List

Price List determines the cost and provision conditions of the Service Bundle. Price Lists can be of two provision types:

• One-time Purchase: Involves a single payment for the Service Bundle for a specific rental period (such as a day, month, year, or lifetime). Payment is handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.
• Subscription: The Service Bundle is provided for a certain period of time and involves periodic payment. The subscription charges and payment frequency are handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.

Multiple Price Lists of the same provision type but with different prices and non-overlapping validity periods can be assigned to the same Service Bundle. That is, at any given time, a Service Bundle can have only one active Price List of a certain provision type.

For the TVoD content, it is also possible to set different prices and rental periods for each type of movie assets (e.g. SD and HD). Additionally, the asset price may vary depending on the Service Bundle or content provider.

Discounts

Price List can be optionally adjusted with Discount of the following types:

• Overriding discount: Overwrites the cost of the Price List with its own.
• Percentage discount: Specifies the percentage of discount applied to the cost of Price List.

The Discount is applied to the Pricing Plan. Thus it overlaps all Price Lists of all Service Bundles included in the Pricing Plan.

The provision conditions of Discount (validity period, device type dependence, etc.) are managed by the Pricing Plan.

The Price List and Pricing Plan can only have one active Discount at any given time, but one Discount can be applied to multiple Price Lists and Pricing Plans.

Subscriber Registration and Sign-In Options

SmartTUBE SDP offers various options for registering and signing in subscribers on the platform:

• Sign-in by Login and Password: These credentials can be set for the entire Service Account or a specific Device.
• Passwordless Sign-in: Operators can register devices on the platform without requiring login credentials if they manage the customer’s home network and know their IP address.
• Trial Sign-in: Operators can set a trial period for subscribers and specify what types of devices they can use during this period.

Multiple Tenancy Configurations

The multitenant configuration allows the following resources and features to be individualized for each tenant:

• Service Accounts and Devices
• Service Bundles and pricing rules
• Access rights to SmartTUBE Admin Console for tenant employees
• Statistical reports
• Apps’ UI customization
• Subscriber notifications
• Licensing calculations

At the same time, each tenant may utilize shared content (TV channels, EPG, VOD library) and metadata sets.

Platform administrators have full access to all platform resources.