Background and Recap
The theme of this three part series is to examine potentially new and different telecom services that enable telcos to particpate in the value chain created by broadband Internet access. Pressure is on telcos to build out their fiber based and/or mobile broadband networks for greater coverage and higher traffic carrying capacity. Yet it is other companies (and not the telcos) that are making money from the value added services and apps they’ve created which take advantage of the telcos broadband network. So are telcos nothing more than purveyors of a fat, dumb pipe? Or can they find new services that will generate revenues and profits? That is, can telcos transform a “dumb pipe” into a “smart pipe” which they can make money from?
Discussion
So far we’ve looked at different versions of the “connected home” as well as emerging devices pairing up with M2M Communications platforms to create new telco opportunities and business models. Of course, many telcos have entered the entertainment video market (via IPTV and/or RF video) and offer triple or quad play service bundles. There is also the often touted Location Based Services (LBS), which is to be coupled with mobile advertisements and directory services. Premium mobile video has also been tried (e.g. Qualcomm’s MediaFlow, Sprint TV), but hasn’t produced much revenue or profits.
Another potential telco opportunity is smart grid communications networks. Many alternatives are possible. It could be a private network for the electic utility, a shared public/private network or utility use of a public broadband wireless network. However, utilities seems to lack trust in telcos and prefer to operate their own communications network (sometimes outsourced to a 3rd party). For more on this topic, please see:
We think mobile broadband may finally give rise to wireless health care applications. Telemedicine is a great example of a wireless connected health solution, especially in developing countries, unserved or underserved rural areas. IEEE ComSocSCV will be featuring a very illuminating Telemedicine panel session at our Sept 14, 2011 meeting in Santa Clara, CA.
For quite some time, femtocells have been touted as a great way for telcos to get traffic off of their mobile data networks and onto a broadband wireline network. AT&T is offering free femtocells for iPhone subscribers that live in rural areas which lack 3G/4G coverage (my neighbor in Arnold, CA has one and it works very well- as long as you’re iPhone is within 10 meters of the femtocell). Andy Germano, Vice Chairman of the Femto Forum identified several possible femtocell services at the Connections 2011 conference, which include:
- Secure home access
- Virtual home phone
- Virtual fridge notes,
- Picture synchronization and
- remote control.
Perhaps, the only Cloud related attribute that telcos might capitalize on is subscription based billing. Ironically, such pay as you go billing has always been used for long distance circuit switched voice calls, but is not used for broadband (other than for various data plans based). The basic concept is to manage billing in terms of a customer’s data traffic activity and therefore manage revenue dynamically.
Chris Couch, COO of billing vendor Transverse, cited an example of subscription based billing, “If a major tennis tournament is in town then you might want to subscribe to results or clips etc, for the period of the tournament, but you normally would not subscribe to a tennis subscription. This level of sophistication increases the flexibility of the offering and the understanding of the customer. It gives the customer choice.”
When asked how the cloud fit into this billing model, Mr. Couch replied, “It is a virtuous circle. The flexibility and resources of providing this as a cloud service means a lower cost base and the ability for service providers to climb the maturity ladder quicker. It is also the most effective option, in terms of investment in normal circumstances this kind of infrastructure would have a $5-10 million price tag.”
Analyst Opinions
We checked in with Harry Wang – a very astute Telecom Analyst at Parks Associates – for his thoughts on this provocative topic. Harry thinks that telcos do have several opportunities to diversify into new markets. Here are a few he ticked off:
1. Telco App Stores
These would enable telcos to distribute content across mutliple end user platforms. Ericsson is currently providing a “white labelled” app store for Sprint (and managing their network, too). Telcos are partnering with Get Jar- a third party aggregator of mobile apps. Harry also mentions Wholesale Application Community (WAC) – a global mobile carriers’ initiative to offer app purchases no matter what device platform or mobile carrier that a consumer uses.
2. Home based Services (part of the “Connected Home” scenario)
Home entertainment (video, audio, game playing, etc), home security monitoring, energy controls, personal emergency response (e.g. elderly person falling down or getting hurt) were cited as some possibities. Verizon’s FlexView is a specific example of a home entertainment service for FiOS customers. It is a Video on Demand (VoD) type of service that lets the customer purchase or rent videos, which can then be played on a number of end user platforms, including:
- Personal Computers/Netbooks
- Compatible wireless handsets (see image for example of FiOS Mobile Remote User Interface)
- Compatible portable devices that support Microsoft® PlayReady® content access technology.
The telco would procure the content from a 3rd party and make it available over their triple play delivery network (e.g. FiOS, U-Verse, etc). The STB would play the OTT videos along with broadcast and VoD on TVs and other user devices/platforms. Note that this OTT video package can be offered outside of telco’s network-covered territory and serves to be a competitive response to OTT video service providers like HULU, Netflix or Amazon.
4. Becoming 4G- MVNOs
Telcos (and MSOs) that don’t have their own 4G network could buy pieces of it wholesale from a third party provider like Clearwire or LightSquared. This would help telcos like Century Link and XO Communications, that currently don’t have any wireless offerings for consumers or the mobile workforce.
5. Personal Cloud for consumers
Assuming the telcos can learn and understand what makes a good cloud experience for consumers, they could provide individual “personal clouds” that store the customers data, electronic documents, music collections, downloaded videos, photo albums, etc. User concerns include: security, privacy controls, reachability and cross platform access. Harry cited Newbay Software as an interesting company in the personal cloud space.
6. Commercial Services for SMBs
These would encompass service bundles that include both fixed and mobile offerings. One example is SIP Trunking, offered by XO Communications and others. Provided by an Internet Telephony Service Provider, a SIP trunk connects an IP-PBX to the traditional PSTN. Other voice, data and video conferencing services are possible. SMB customer needs will determine the precise ones which are deployed.
Here is a ViodiTV interview with Harry Wang
Parks Associates VP & Principal Analyst Kurt Scherf is very optimistic about premium technical support services to be offered by skilled telcos. Kurt wrote in an email,
“This is a broadband-provided service that I think will help to generate positive cashflow for the broadband service provider by:Closing Comment
Revenues from premium technical support services are projected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2011 to $4.8 billion in 2011.”
- Creating new revenue streams; and
- Helping to reduce incoming customer support phone calls when people have something typically considered “out-of-scope” such as a virus infection on their home computer.
We’ve identified many new and interesting services that telcos might provide. Their success or failure will depend on skill, agility and committment of the telcos. Customer service and support will play a huge role here.
It’s imperative that telcos continue to upgrade their broadband wireless and wireline networks to keep up with the exponential increase in data traffic. We wonder whether they will have the resources and commitment to also pursue new services, such as the many we have described in this three part article.
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