White Paper
The Decision is Yours:‘Trusted Content Provider’ vs. ‘Dumb Pipe’
© Copyright Openet T elecom, 2009
© Copyright Openet T elecom, 2011Overview OTT players, multi-purpo devices and convergent rvices mean legacy ‘policy management’ and ‘congestion management’ have to give way to intelligent platforms that deliver ‘portable, on-demand, interactive, measurable and personalized’ content, as well as enable real-time ssion bad broadband traffic management that can enable a smooth, integrated, differentiated customer experience. OTT Tv— a ThreaT Or OppOrTuniTY fOr OperaTOrs?fewer than 22 percent of u.s. houholds feel they’re getting good value from their pay-Tv rvices, and as many as 10 percent of u.s. houholds are looking to get out from under their pay-Tv bills.1 (additionally, a whopping 1.2 million television subscribers have cut the cord globally, and approximately 434,000 of 112 million total pay Tv subscribers in north america have cut their cords.2Though there may be some disagreement about the extent to which cord-cutting is affecting the bottom line, the statistics are telling in that customers clearly do not feel there is value in having to arch for the content they want or need. This is especially true when locked into long-term rvice con
tracts that in the end fail to fulfill their desires. what customers want is easy access to personalized, portable content that contributes to a positive overall experience. it would em that traditional pay-Tv providers should be well suited to address the needs, as most can still boast more content and more success than up-and-comers like apple, Google, hulu, facebook, netflix, amazon, YouTube and other Over the T op (OTT) channels. The content delivery world is transforming into one where all content will have to become on-demand, interactive and governable. The name of the game is going to be smart content that is easy to access, or even pushed, to customers over the devices they prefer to u. This can involve sTBs, Tvs, laptops, tablets or smartphones, or any combination thereof. Customers want interactivity, involvement, engagement, and a n of being in control of the content they get through simplified and centralized channels. They don’t want to be forced to move from one device to another when they want to purcha goods or rvices, or when they want to participate in dynamic, interactive events.as evidenced by the fact the majority of the top 10 us Tv operators 4 are building Tv everywhere rvices, it’s obvious they expect tens of millions of consumers will be eking multi-device, interactive and integrated experiences. The question is not one of “will people participate in dynamic, personalized experiences?” but rather one of “to whom and to what brands will people turn for their experiences?”“in the usa, YouTube dominates the online video scene with 144m unique viewers watching over four hours of videos in Jan 2011. The dominan
ce is even more impressive if the partner site, vevo, is included in the figures. YouTube viewers spend more time on the site than even the broadcaster owned hulu, who specializes in long form content showing Tv shows. T o place this in context, average Tv viewing in the usa is approximately four hours per day. as Tv’s become connected to the internet, the growth opportunities for YouTube are further enhanced. similar trends to the usa can be en across the globe with, for instance, almost half of population of the uK, visiting YouTube in any given month”3The Decision is Yours:美女大变身
‘Trusted
Content第八届网商大会
Provider’ vs. ‘Dumb Pipe’
1: 68 Percent of US TV Customers Willing to Switch Providers, Strategy Analytics, February 2, 2010 2: Global “cord-cutters” to have limited impact on pay TV , Informa T elecoms and Media, February 3, 20113: YouT ube: Recent improvements could change the game (again), Digital Entertainment 2.0, March 2011 4: Cable Firms Eye T ablet Space, Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2010
Of all of the different players eking the “cool” designation, the loyalties of multi-tasking
consumers will lie with the brands associated with the most ‘integrated’, entertaining and
personalized experience.
The Multichannel video programming Distributor (MvpD) lauded individually, with friends, family,
co-workers, and over social networks, will be the most heavily pursued—not only by consumers
eking new content and new ways to digest it—but also by advertirs, content creators, and
even financial institutions, merchants and studios looking for partners they think offer the shortest
distance between themlves and the customers they want to attract.
where loyalties of consumers and potential partners fall could change today’s circles of
influence. Just who will end up calling the shots will impact not only consumers and advertirs,
纵向一体化but also content creators, aggregators, and even regulators—all very important to an operator’s
value chain and overall business–who want to become influential, respected and a differentiated,
preferred option as MvpD.
for this reason, any upswing in the trend of cord cutting–and in general, the diversification
of exciting, innovative video content options for consumers–means OTT players, telcos, and
gaming and device manufacturers are going to grow in influence among customers, as well as
among important value-chain partners.
求导公式高中This upswing, whether it occurs now or not, is certainly something that is being heavily pursued
not only by OTT players, but mobile and fixed broadband providers. Companies such as aT&T,
verizon, Youview, Belgacom, Deutsche T elekom, Orange, iliad, and China Telecom are already
fervently rolling out ipTv offerings, with the promi of more exclusive content, higher picture
quality, and introductory rates that are lower than tho available through traditional fixed-Tv
providers.
even the gaming players are getting into the fray with more sophisticated consoles that
increasingly simplify access to compelling, targeted content to customers (e.g., ps3 deal with
hBO to bring shows to urs on demand). That is in addition to increasingly sophisticated digital
video players and Tv web browrs that give consumers interfaces to streaming video from OTT
players at lower costs and over more devices.
as video apps for tablets, smartphones and pCs proliferate, operators will continue to feel the
squeeze. They don’t want to be put in a position where they need to justify why subscribers
should stick with their offerings, or why advertirs should pay them instead of investing in a
今人Google ad over an ipad or other ad-device combo that boasts a more targeted and engaged
audience.
how long can the existing operator-content provider relationship continue? will franchi fees
continue? for advertirs, will there be greater value in one on one marketing tactics, taking
advantage of knowing your customer and being able to manage their experience? how much
new content is being created? Can the new OTT providers change the market with original
content?
engagement with consumers and ad effectiveness will come only to tho that deliver the right
content to the right people at the right time with the right message. without that recognition,
operators and other network operators face a very real threat of becoming purely dumb pipes
over which others get to monetize their content offerings.
rather than face disintermediation by OTT players, it is important that ipTv, cable, and satellite
television operators consider the enormous opportunity they have before them to become the
“cool” providers customers want, as well as enablers to other stakeholders and value-chain
partners.
© Copyright Openet T elecom, 2011
The ChOiCe: ‘COnTenT enaBler’ versus ‘DuMB pipe’
as consumers look to obtain content from alternative sources on a paid-basis or through
ad-supported models, operators can provide what others lack in terms of personalizing and
streamlining access to content.
Operators can monetize content in their own right, but can also become the facilitators or
“enabling factors” for matching consumers to the content they want. This occurs becau
customers often have problems finding or being able to access their chon content due to the
nature of pay Tv monthly subscription options, which are not flexible, or customizable. in cas
where there are gaps between what is supplied and what consumer’s desire, operators can
leverage their relationships with 3rd parties to help content providers to create more personalized
content according to subscriber preferences. They can leverage relationships and investments
without having to recreate what already exists in some form. Operators just need to start thinking
more like OTT players and retailers in terms of having the willingness to partner and to move into
new territories outside their “comfort zone.”
with literally thousands of apps (eBif, voD, linear, pCf), millions of devices (smartphones,
tablets, laptops, pCs, gaming consoles, t T op Boxes, Tvs), and an unthinkable number of
potential rvices (voD, wireless, wireline, OTT, data and video), operators are well positioned
to orchestrate rvices for not only their customers, but for other stakeholders as well. in many
ways, they are already becoming the central point through which people multitask. for example,
without any incentives or other encouragement from operators, millions of consumers already
watch Tv while simultaneously surfing and interacting over the internet (e.g., voting, rearching
and buying products relevant to what they e on Tv). in fact, more than 66 million consumers
in the us are using the internet while watching Tv, and about one-fifth report they are instant
messaging while watching Tv.5
for customers, having operators as their central interaction point could be a win-win situation,
as they could rely on their operators for more compelling and personalized content, as well as
for a simplified rvice experience through centralized billing and customer care relationships
一月有什么节日
(e.g., a central provider to which they can turn to receive a credit if video or movie quality is
compromid).
Today customers are well aware that when they visit any website their actions are managed
and that the owners of the websites are using customer information to target individuals. as
customers access Tve more often, they know that their viewing habits and personal habits
are going to be managed. This management will allow operators to target specific content and
advertising best suited for what a customer wants to view while watching Tv.
what about personally identifiable information (pii) issues and customers not wanting operators
to know their habits? Operators still require a solution that can identify trends to ensure the
provision of better, more targeted content.
within the value chain, it is the operators that already posss the broadest range of asts, such
as:
¨insight/knowledge about customers
¨real-time rvice personalization
¨Monetization tools
¨network control
¨Content aggregation and management谁是卧底的词语
To capitalize on the asts, operators need to evolve their mindt around the changing
meaning of “value” to customers, as well as make necessary changes to their infrastructure to
make their asts uful as “enablers” to what customers and value-chain partners want.
5: US TV Viewers’ Respon to Economic T urmoil, In-Stat, March 2009
© Copyright Openet T elecom, 2011
a first step is to create mutually co-operative models whereby they can enable content (“arch”,
“portals”, “promotions”, “packages” and “purchasing options”) in such a way that they get a
slice of revenues in the world of content.
The bottom-line is that the operator’s brand should be the focal point for consumers wanting
to access content through “anywhere” rvices. it should be the operators that become the
aggregation point and the experiential enabler. while other brands will also be visible to the
consumer, they should be perceived only as content developers or equipment providers,
gments of the value chain not occupied by the operators. The experience is ultimately
delivered by the operator, who is the “king”.
aDDressinG The ChallenGes anD OppOrTuniTies
To not only address but conquer the many challenges before them, operators have to work to
build personalized, easy-to-find rvices, while simultaneously improving content delivery and
managing content issues. for most, the key challenges for the next 12 to 18 months should
focus on the following three categories critical to a customer experience:
¨Content delivery
¨Congestion management
¨Content-embedded network access/performance
The key steps should be able to effectively interface with product and content catalogs, which
by working in an integrated fashion will basically enable the ability to know your content and
packaging, and know your customer.
such key categories should be addresd without costly “Big-Bang” replacement or approaches
that force operators to cobble together pieces from different point-solutions. rather, operators
should pursue comprehensive strategies that encompass technologies and strategies that
address content delivery, congestion and network access.
for that reason, a new software category—subscriber Optimization software (sOs)—is
emerging in the market to unify related software for charging, control, and usage measurement.
recently recognized by heavy reading as a category that “makes n” for helping operators
manage, control, monetize and create visibility—the key is integrating traditionally silo-ed
functions: mediation, policy management, real-time charging, and subscriber Data Management
(sDM).
By integrating the key elements, operators are empowered to carry out the necessary product
changes, entitlement enforcements, Qos, network curity and subscriber privacy assurances
they need. The point here is that previously disjointed software components have to be
integrated to help operators create new purchasing options, pricing models, enable the launch of
aggressive promotions and loyalty points, deploy new rvices, better utilize network resources,
and streamline ur experience for ordering, provisioning and interacting with existing rvices.
To be truly “integrated”, sOs components should be built from the ground up to work together,
and they should be transactional, high-performance, flexible, and scalable in nature. That’s
a mouthful, but given the size of most tier-ones’ subscriber bas and increasing customer
interactions, the ability to handle huge volumes of real-time transaction throughput cannot be
英语主谓一致overstated.
True “subscriber Optimization software” suites should be designed to enable a roadmap of
rvices, business models, and efficiency measures with best-in-class software and integration of
individual software components. Thereby offering the ability to grow as, when, and if needed, as
oppod to a costly “big-bang” strategy.
© Copyright Openet T elecom, 2011
