In Broadcast - August 2019 - 25

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 9 - Issue 7 | Auugust 2019

InAPAC

5G Will Open New Opportunities
For Telco-OTT Media Bundling
It is anticipated that 5G will boost telco-OTT media
bundling revenue to around US$11 billion inside five years,
writes Guillermo Escofet, Principal Analyst, Ovum...

G promises to open new, exciting
possibilities for the kinds of media
services that can be delivered over
mobile networks, including virtualreality experiences, multiplayer videogame streaming, and high-definition
live broadcasting of big events. What
is less clear is what new opportunities
it will open for bundling partnerships
between providers of premium OTT
media services and mobile operators.
Such partnerships are one of the
most powerful symbioses that can
occur between carriers and media
OTTs, but they are kind of stuck in
a rut. Subscription-based video and
music streaming services, spearheaded
by Netflix and Spotify, respectively,
pretty much monopolise this space.
The bundling of unlimited-music
subscriptions is old hat and a declining
space, and SVOD bundling has become
so prevalent that there is little further
differentiation it can give carriers.
Business-development and strategy
staff at carriers have over the past
two years or so been asking where the
next 'killer apps' in telco-OTT bundling
partnerships will come from. That
question has gained more urgency
with the advent of the first 5G network
rollouts.
For carriers, adding to their tariff
plans attractive premium media
services as a free or discounted extra is
usually a more effective marketing ploy
than competing against other networks
on just price, coverage, or megabits per
second. It enables a carrier to stand out
in a unique way, charge more for its
plans, and provide a powerful use case
for a new network technology.
Compelling Uses?
There is no shortage of compelling
media use cases for 5G, but most
appear not to lend themselves to telco
bundling of premium OTT services:
* There are numerous weird and
wonderful uses predicted for virtual
and mixed reality around 5G, but
they do not clearly translate into
standalone, premium services.
* Esports is already proving fertile
ground for telco partnerships, but

mainly in the areas of sponsorship,
event hosting, and team ownership.
The live-streaming of esports events is
usually free to view.
* Cloud gaming ticks all the boxes
- it is usually subscription-based and
really puts 5G's capabilities to the test
- but is still a nascent market.
* Live-sports streaming is both
a fully-fledged market and an ideal
premium service to bundle with 5G,
but carriers have strong own-brand
ambitions in this space.
Partnership Opportunities
However, the cloud-gaming market is
on the cusp of a major transformation
as tech giants such as Amazon, Google,
Microsoft, and Tencent prepare to roll
out services. The sudden confluence
of numerous new services, all seeking
consumer attention, alongside the
rollout of 5G, should create ample
opportunity for telco-OTT partnerships
- as already seen by Rovio's bundling
deals with NTT Docomo and Sprint for
the Hatch service.
At the same time, bidding for
the broadcast rights of primetime mainstream sports can be
prohibitively expensive, which is likely
to often thwart carriers' own-brand
broadcasting ambitions and open the
door to partnerships with OTTs. And
the OTT live-sports streaming space is
becoming increasingly competitive as
more and more players join the fray,
including the FAANG giants and rights
holders going direct to consumer leading to a proliferation of partnership
options.
Revenue Boost
Ovum estimates that live-sports
streaming and cloud gaming alone will
drive over US$5 billion in cumulative
revenue derived from telco-OTT
bundling over the next five years.
Overall, 5G will boost telco-OTT media
bundling revenue by more than 80%
by 2024, bringing the total to nearly
US$11 billion.

Ovum is a marketleading data, research,
and consulting business
focused
on
helping
digital service providers,
technology companies,
and enterprise decision-makers thrive
in the connected digital economy.
Ovum offers expert analysis and
strategic insight across the media and
entertainment industry.
This article is from Straight Talk a
weekly briefing from the desk of the
Chief Research Officer.
To find out more about Ovum visit
https://ovum.informa.com/
London-based Principal Analyst
Guillermo Escofet tracks the global
mobile media market, with a special
interest in telco-OTT partnerships,

mobile advertising, and telco digital
services strategies.
He brings 14 years' experience to his
work in analysing the global mobile
media sector.
Joining Ovum in 2014, he has
provided expertise to clients in the
areas of mobile payments, advertising,
and network APIs.
Prior to becoming an analyst, Escofet
had a successful career in business and
current-affairs journalism, working as a
newspaper reporter in Central America
and a foreign correspondent in Mexico
City.

Barnfind At China Summit
B
arnfind
Technologies
was
recently tapped to configure,
construct and provide a transmission
network at the One Belt and One Road
International Cooperation Summit
which took place in Beijing.
Barnfind's BTF1-02 BarnOne frame
with CWDM 16-channel wavelength
division multiplexing devices with
optical splitters 1:8 comprised the
heart of the signal transmission
network that operated between the
eight central media sites. Each site
was equipped with main and standby
receiving devices consisting of
another set of 16-channel wavelength
division multiplexers, a BTF1-02 and
BarnMini units.
The
general
control
room
transmitted 12+2 SDI signals to
various media sites. The optical
signals were first multiplexed through
wavelength division multiplexing
and transported on one optical fibre.
The distributed optical signals were
then transmitted to the eight sites
respectively.
Each media site configuration
consisted of: a main receiver demultiplexed through a 16-channel

Summit: Barnfind transmission network

wavelength division multiplexer,
12-2 SDI signal output through a
BTF1-02, standby receiver received
by a BarnMini 07, SDI signal output
through four BarnMini 01's.
The standby receivers were
four-channel wavelength division
multiplexer devices, which are point
at standby receivers of main signal
as BarnMini 07 is four-channel
wavelength division multiplexer.
Barnfind
participated
in
the construction of the signal
transmission network and was also
responsible for the transmission of all
signals between all sites.
The Summit was covered live from
the forum news centre by People's
Daily, Xinhua news agency, CCTV and
other news organisations between
eight central media sites.

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