By: Becky Bracken
People take their television really, really personally. And so should their providers. Since Generation X-ers first declared "I Want My MTV!", personalized premium video content has become an integral part of people’s lives. Now, with advent of tablets, smartphones, YouTube and LOL cats, customers are no longer differentiating between cable, satellite and online video content, and service providers everywhere are racing to put the power of TV right in their customers' hands, wherever they go.
More Fiber, More Customers
Increased broadband penetration is helping make IPTV a viable alternative to cable and satellite. IPTV services have really lifted off in Europe and Asia, where there isn't such stiff competition from cable and satellite and fiber is being deployed at a steady clip.
French researcher iDate says Europe saw a 24 percent increase in Fiber-to-the-home subscribers in the first six months of 2011 alone. Europe now has 10.2 million Fiber customers and serves 28 million homes. In France, 50 percent of broadband subscribers are also IPTV customers, according to Point Topic, a researcher for Broadband Forum. Point Topic also says there are 50 million IPTV subscribers globally. That's a lot of potential customers for IPTV providers.
Particularly in North America and in Western Europe, the competition among service providers to attract and capture video customers is heating up. In North America alone, over the past 18 months, nearly 20 cable operators, satellite TV providers, telcos and content providers have launched or begun testing multi-screen video services.
No pressure.
Anywhere TV
Providers who can provide a reliable, personal video experience for their users will be poised to grab, and keep, the customers who are driving up revenues as they adopt lucrative quadruple-play and premium video services. Video compression rates have improved exponentially, allowing even telephone companies to get in the video game by delivering IPTV service over good ol’ twisted pair or shiny new Fiber. Today, multi-screen anywhere TV is the key service differentiator. But, ultimately who will win depends on who is able to provide the customer with a seamless service experience, positive customer experience, and user-friendly self-service portal that supports virtually every device imaginable.
A one-size-fits-all approach isn't just a deal-breaker for customers; service providers of all stripes will have to evaluate their networks and product offerings to develop their own quadruple-play offerings reliable enough to be attractive and support an increasing number of devices and services. That means different things for cablecos, telcos, satellite providers, and OTT players trying to develop a superior service.
