SkyFILES: Me Too

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] SkyFILES: Me Too
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 06:48:51 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>

        SkyFILES: Me Too
by Michael Hopkins mhopkins () mediabiz com


This week's Senate hearings on local franchise issues, a
battle that's shaping up between cable incumbents and new
telco entrants, shows how determined each side is when it
comes to competing with the other in the pay-TV business.

And it demonstrated what great lengths each side will go to
get what they want in terms of a regulatory break.

Take AT&T's Edward Whitacre, Jr. During the hearing, he hinted
that the telco's IPTV platform should not be regulated like
cable since it's - well - an IPTV platform. AT&T has told the
Federal Communications Commission that its IPTV technology is
much different than today's cable infrastructure - from
headend to set-top box. And because of that its service is
not covered by the same regulation scheme faced by the veteran
wired service.

The technology may be different, but how the product gets to
the customer really isn't that different. And the actual video
service delivered to the customer isn't any different.

Unfortunately, for the telco guys, their video service is - at
the moment - pretty much like cable service. It's offering
linear video channels, video-on-demand and other items such as
an IPG and interactive TV. Telco video is even bundled with
broadband and voice, much like cable's triple-play.

Telcos may attempt to compete on price, but is that enough?

This brings us to the second point. How do telcos think
they're going to compete with cable - or even satellite
TV - when they're delivering a "me-to" offering?

In addition to selling the usual television fare, how about
offering more niche and/or ethnic programming than what's
currently available from pay-TV incumbents? How about taking a
stab at a la carte options? Or expanding family tiers?

Telco video services need to think ahead like satellite TV did
more than a decade ago when it launched services. Dish
platforms are delivering programming not available via cable
(DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket), the latest technology (DVRs
coming from DirecTV and DISH Network), ethnic channels (again,
cable and both DBS players and GlobeCast offer these
channels), or family-oriented content (again, some cable, the
DBS guys and the Sky Angel DBS service).

Telco video cannot compete with a service that looks
like - and smells like - cable.

Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>


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