CONNECTIONS™ Europe explores new roles for mobile devices and communications services

CONNECTIONS Europe: Monetizing Connectivity and User Interfaces, November 15-16 in Amsterdam, features the session “Mobile Video: The Cloud, the App Store, & the Connected Home” to examine these new mobile business strategies. Parks Associates forecasts data ARPU will continue to grow to almost 50% of per-user revenues for mobile services by 2014.

VP of Research and Principal Analyst, Kurt Scherf will moderate “Mobile Video: The Cloud, the App Store, & the Connected Home” on November 16, the final day of CONNECTIONS Europe.

Session Speakers:

-- David Noguer Bau, Head of Carrier Ethernet & Multiplay Marketing, Juniper Networks
-- Martial Bellec, Innovation Programme Manager, France Telecom-Orange Labs
-- Klaus Milczewsky, Senior Manager, Deutsche Telekom AG
-- Peter Percosan, Chief Technology Officer, Cable Europe Labs
-- Andy Tiller, Marketing Vice Chair, Femto Forum

For more information, visit http://www.connectionseurope.com.

Can Traditional TV Operators Embrace OTT Video as a Service?

There is an assumption by many market pundits today that the service operators in the world of Internet TV services and that of traditional pay-TV are totally disjointed. We think this is rather too simplistic.

Just like the world of e-commerce in the early generations of Internet, the shift of consumption did not totally upend the value of existing brands and consumer loyalties. A few new players emerged for sure, but by and large, the brick and mortar brands have become just as prominent on the Internet as they are on Main Street – the power of branding transcends the medium.

When you apply this logic to video, the service operators that make the leap to multi-screen delivery can indeed be the same names that dominate the pay-TV market in cable, satellite and IPTV today. They have the content, the subscriber relationships and the scale to make service delivery compelling whatever the physical distribution network, and in many cases they also provide Internet connectivity.

The challenge for existing operators is that this requires a fundamental shift in the way they think. Progressive digital TV operators may have to embrace novel technologies that have been designed to effectively scale and solve IP video issues and apply them over their delivery networks. By integrating OTT and adaptive rate streaming technology with pay-TV services, operators can enhance ARPU, subscriber loyalty and lure incremental advertising dollars.

This convergence of technologies also must encompass a proactive revenue protection and enhancement approach that enables digital TV operators to cast a much wider net with their service offerings. This shifts the central value proposition for the digital video enterprise beyond that of content protection alone, towards the broader perspective of revenue security.

Download Verimatrix's white paper, Pay-TV at an Inflection Point, and let us know if you agree.

Submitted from Verimatrix.

SureWest Communications CTO to Keynote TES@CONNECTIONS

Pivot Media announced that Bill DeMuth, Chief Technology Officer, SureWest Communications will participate as the Keynote speaker at the Telecom Executive Summit@CONNECTIONS. The pre-show summit will be hosted on Tuesday, June 2 prior to the opening sessions at CONNECTIONS.

Following the Keynote, a session will be hosted:

All Things Digital Service Provider Panel

Service provider thought leaders share their own experiences in managing the transition of taking traditional telcos into the digital age. This panel will highlight service provider strategies for maximizing the digital opportunity in telecom today and tomorrow. Hear first hand from the carriers who are embracing their digital future and executing against it.

Topics for discussion will include:

- How to engage digital customers for higher ARPU
- Implementing a ‘digital culture’
- Successfully managing a digital product portfolio
- Lessons learned from the new digital frontier

Click here for more information.

Pre-show Summit at CONNECTIONS™ addresses market challenges for service providers

Pivot Media to host Pre-show Telecom Executive Summit--

Parks Associates today announced telecom consulting firm Pivot Media will host a pre-show event Telecom Executive Summit@CONNECTIONS: Digital DNA for Service Providers on the first day of CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase.

CONNECTIONS™, hosted by Parks Associates, will take place June 2-4, 2009, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. This executive conference and showcase attracts senior executives from all industries associated with the digital home, new media and content distribution, and mobile applications and services.

The summit will be hosted on June 2, prior to the CONNECTIONS™ opening keynote from Glenn Lurie, President, Emerging Devices and Resale, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. Now that Supercomm is delayed until October 2009, this year’s CONNECTIONS™ event provides an excellent opportunity for telecom executives to gather in early Summer and chart a future course for the rest of the year and beyond.

Pivot Media’s Telecom Executive Summit will feature executives from leading telecom carriers. Session topics include experiences in the digital transition, the challenges in becoming a content provider, the applications key to success, and opportunities in the digital home for improving customer relations and growing ARPU.

Pivot Media’s areas of focus include the independent telecom sector, broadband, IP convergence, IPTV, digital media, and broadband wireless. Pivot Media leverages its telecom industry research, analysis, and knowledge base to help clients recognize and maximize business opportunities.

For more information on CONNECTIONS™ and the Pivot Media Telecom Executive Summit, visit www.connectionsconference.com and www.pivot-media.com.

Mobile carriers working to increase ARPU

There will be over 4.5 billion mobile phone users worldwide by 2013, of which over 3.5 billion will be served by 3G technology, and there will be no shortage of competition for this immense population of users. Mobile carriers have to provide enhanced and personalized services in order to reduce subscriber churn while also building average revenue per user (ARPU). Samsung, now the No. 2 mobile handset maker, is unveiling its mobile applications storefront for users of Samsung Symbian and Windows Mobile devices (an extension of the Samsung Mobile Innovator developer program) during the Mobile World Congress event in February 2009. Although this store will be open only to U.K. consumers initially, the company will expand it to other nations if the U.K. store is successful with consumers.

This development is one more significant step in the mobile app space, which has been under accelerated development since 2008 following Apple’s success. The market has included these developments:

>> September 2008: The press first reported Microsoft’s mobile app store SkyMarket, followed by rumors that Microsoft will announce it at Mobile World Congress in February 2009.

>> October 21, 2008: Research in Motion announced its Blackberry application storefront will open in March 2009; developers will get 80% of the revenue from sales.

>> October 22, 2008: The Google Android Market went live with 50+ applications; Google promises to give developers 70% of the sales, with 30% going to carriers and for billing settlement.

>> January 9, 2009: Palm announces plan to launch its WebOS App Catalog.

As the consumer app download market grows, fragmentation could become a negative factor in the mobile OS market. Will Apple leverage its App Store’s success to lock in users just as it did with its iPod+iTunes franchise? The more fragmented the market is, the more leverage Apple could gain. CONNECTIONS™ will feature multiple sessions discussing the implications of such a move in the mobile industry.