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between traditional CSPs and over-the-top carriers as a second front in each type of company's respective wars. However, the recent ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in favor of Comcast and against the FCC and net neutrality really changes the landscape.
If service providers have the ability to throttle over-the-top applications at will, this may be a front that could disintegrate. In addition, with the aforementioned mainstreaming of traditional VoIP players through established wireless carriers, we're seeing a blending of the "establishment" and "anti-establishment" forces.
Still, over-the-top video providers may feel the worst effects of the ruling. Streaming video demands mighty high levels of fidelity, and could crumble easily as the result of a too-thorough tightening of access policy. So far, Hulu hasn't been particularly vocal about this ruling, though they have fought for net
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In an environment of "hand-to-hand combat", CSPs should remember that OSS and BSS provide one heck of a weapon. |
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Some providers, however, are ready for any and all challengers. Verizon's Kula noted that "the competitive environment is frenzied," referring to the current landscape as a "hand-to-hand combat environment."
That's a fitting description. All of the providers are striving for customer wins. Kula notes that Verizon enjoys 3.4 million FiOS data customers and 2.9 million FiOS TV customers in the area in which it is currently online and available. As the homes passed climbs higher, approaching the target of 18 million, that number has the strong chance of growing and growing.
Meanwhile, cable is chipping away at the SMB and enterprise space and the mobile space (Rogers notes the upcoming release of their
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neutrality in the past. Furthermore, this particular Comcast case was brought as a result of the throttling of P2P activity, and on its site, Hulu lists its competitors as "the various piracy services that enable users with the ability to illegally access premium content for free, without the permission of the content owner" with no mention of mainline video services. Still, if CSPs can, theoretically, reduce quality and cause Hulu users to look elsewhere for their jollies, that means reduced revenue for the video outlet, any way you slice it.
(Though I noticed rumblings on the blogosphere that, as NBC has a stake in Hulu, Comcast's NBC acquisition actually creates a sort of feedback loop linking Comcast to Hulu. Cold comfort, I'm sure, and it's unclear if this relationship will do anything to influence policy.)
However, these decisions aren't final, and the struggle for market share continues to include considerations of the over-the-top market.
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Mifi and one-rate data roaming plans) and strengthening its customer satisfaction. "Early on, we decided that customers purchasing multiple services from Cox should have one number to call for service and questions," said Grabert, "and that they should also receive one bill." The back office implications of such a decision underscore the need for CSPs of ALL stripes to stay on top of their OSS and BSS decisions.
This is an underlying part of every piece of this competitive puzzle. Are over-the-top providers permitted? Can they be throttled? It takes OSS support to ensure that the traffic is dealt with appropriately, either way.
Do consumers demand more services? Are their needs changing? It takes strong OSS/BSS support to provision, deliver, bill, charge, and otherwise provide and monetize any new service.
In an environment of "hand-to-hand combat", CSPs should remember that OSS and BSS provide on heck of a weapon.
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