“OTT TV”是个英语词汇，是“Over The Top TV”的缩写。“Over The Top”中“TOP”的本意是在“在……之上”，并非“在……顶层”。 “Over The Top”指的是在为用户提供互联网的业务成为运营商的一种业务之后，运营在互联网“之上”的业务。这种业务最典型的特征是，其提供者勿需拥有自己的物理网络，直接在运营商的互联网物理网络上运营。最早最典型的业务就是Skype、QQ的祖先ICQ，这种业务完全独立于电信运营商或者有线运营商的互联网业务，直接和运营商的电信业务竞争。笔者找到一段英语定义：Over-the-top is a general term for service that you utilize over a network that is not offered by that network operator. It's often referred to as over-the-top because these services ride on top of the service you already get and don't require any business or technology affiliations with your network operator。另外一个表述是这样的：The classic definition of OTT is the distribution of voice, video and data services without going through the MSOs or telcos。