Every week I am privileged to meet and speak with telco executives from all over the U.S. and beyond about exciting new initiatives, such as Telco TV and OTT video delivery, managed access to social media apps, and new ways to bundle and deliver downstream services … all to help broadband operators improve customer experience and increase revenue.
It’s also inspiring for me to share information and experiences with members of our Endavo team out in the field. Our own Shaun Pope recently attended the IP Possibilities Expo in St. Louis (hosted by NTCA and OPASTCO), where he confirmed our belief that rural telcos are very well positioned to deliver new “over-the-top” consumer services that can be enhanced by their telecom networks and assets.
Here’s a quick summary of my recent conversation with Shaun regarding his many stimulating conversations with telco executives at IP Possibilities Expo:
Existing Customer Base. Smaller, local telecom service providers certainly have a leg up on the competition, due to be being an integral part of their community. Community telco execs are often approached by their customers with ideas and requests for new services—ideas often involving local video programming. One telco advantage is existing billing relationships and infrastructure, which can make it relatively easy to up-sell new products and services downstream to customers.
Already Own the Network. Telco providers control network access and provide managed services across high-speed networks, which will become a critical asset in the OTT video race. Net Neutrality issues aside, “best efforts” Internet delivery of long-form HD video targeting high-def TV viewing will not deliver a reliable consumer-grade experience. However, telcos are able to increase bandwidth within bundled service packages to support video QoS levels equal to IPTV and Cable offerings. And solutions by companies like Zeugma Systems and others can provide deep packet inspection (DPI) software that allows for the prioritization of certain network traffic, i.e., video to registered devices.
Educated & Motivated. Rural telcos are keenly aware that cloud computing and OTT video delivery will grow, dramatically increasing bandwidth usage on their networks. Providing broadband access must not only be sustainable, it also must be bundled with a robust basket of enhance services, digital media (OTT video) and consumer applications, such as online storage and/or PC backup. It all adds up to increased bandwidth usage and increased revenue. With this strategy, we feel net neutrality mandates and/or restrictions become less problematic to service providers.
Bottom line – smart telcos will start growing their businesses now by leveraging cloud computing, hosted app/services delivery and OTT video, because more and more consumers are finding solutions on their own, and buying Internet-delivered services directly. So time is critical for telcos to get ahead of the OTT wave.
Your thoughts?
Paul D Hamm
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