Abstract
With revenues from fixed telephony in decline and broadband retail prices eroded by increasing competition, Europe's fixed operators view IPTV as a potential answer to the revenue shortfall. However, in contrast to the homogeneous US market, there are marked national and regional differences in broadband adoption and customer spend.
Telco TV: European market opportunities and operator strategies examines local factors that determine the size of the opportunity for telco TV and addresses your key questions:
- What multichannel television platforms are already established, and could or would the players operating them venture into IPTV themselves?
- To what extent will nascent DTT services impact upon the take-up of IPTV services?
- Given that IPTV's maximum user base is defined by the number of xDSL users, what are the existing rates for the adoption of broadband services?
- Can operators compete with existing triple-play service providers on cost and/or content provision?
- Should operators offer a full bouquet of channels or simply pay-per-view or video-on-demand services?
Table of Contents
- 1 IPTV has arrived just when telcos need it
- 1.1 Telcos revenues are being squeezed by competition and market changes
- 1.2 Incumbents see IPTV and triple play as a key response
- 1.3 Alternative network operators came into IPTV early
- 1.4 IPTVs success will be determined by both market structure and operator strategy
- 2 The opportunity for telco TV will depend upon the availability and
composition of competing TV services
- 2.1 Telco TV operators will face competition on a variety of platforms
- 2.2 The increasing availability of DTT services will prove a threat to IPTV
- 3 European markets will vary in their receptiveness to IPTV
- 3.1 Neighbouring markets tend to possess similar broadcasting profiles, up to a point
- 3.2 Definitions of multichannel and pay TV can be misleading
- 3.3 There is a strong correlation between high cable adoption and low cable digitalisation
- 3.4 High multichannel penetration will not necessarily retard IPTV adoption
- 4 Operators should leverage their fixed-line user base to drive IPTV
adoption
- 4.1 Existing broadband subscribers represent the initial potential user base for IPTV
- 4.2 Markets with high broadband and low pay-TV penetration offer the greatest scope for early IPTV adoption
- 4.3 Current low adoption of triple play should not unduly alarm telcos
- 5 Local interpretation of telecoms and media regulation will affect the
market opportunities for telcos
- 5.1 Decisions on VDSL regulation are critical to the future of altnets
- 5.2 EC regulation of bundles of sports rights may result in reduced costs and increase PPV opportunities for telcos
- 5.3 Telcos launching IPTV services might encounter cross-ownership restrictions
- 6 Telco strategy must be designed to reflect local market conditions
- 6.1 Operators can seek to compete directly with existing multichannel platforms
- 6.2 Operators should focus on exploiting IPTVs USPs in saturated pay-TV markets
- 6.3 Telcos can explore partnerships with DTH or DTT operators
- Actions
Figures and tables
- Figure 1.1: Voice revenue in selected European markets, 2003--5
- Figure 1.2: Residential telecoms spend in Western Europe, 2001--11
- Figure 2.1: LGI/UPCs pay-TV market share in selected European markets, September 2005
- Table 2.1: European DTT households, September 2005
- Figure 3.1: European pay-TV adoption versus digital penetration, September 2005
- Figure 3.2: European multichannel and cable penetration, 2005
- Figure 3.3: European penetration of cable TV versus cable digitalisation, September 2005
- Figure 3.3: European penetration of cable TV versus cable digitalisation, September 2005
- Table 4.1: European broadband households, 2005
- Figure 4.1: European broadband subscriptions by technology, September 2005
- Figure 4.2: European pay TV versus broadband penetration, September 2005
- Figure 4.3: Western European broadband household penetration, 2005--11
- Figure 4.4: Western European pay-TV penetration in 2005 versus potential available monthly spend on additional broadband services in 2011
- Table 4.2: European adoption of triple play by selected cable operators, September 2005
- Figure 6.1: BSkyBs interactive revenues from Sky Active and Sky Bet, 2001--5
