FTTH network positions Verizon to climb to No. 1 IPTV provider, says MRG
Dec 11, 2007 12:03 PM
IPTV Update: Did you encounter any surprises in putting together the most recent bi-annual IPTV forecast? If so, what?
Gary Schultz: I think one of the surprises is Verizon is back on the upswing as fast as it was. I think that was probably the biggest surprise. No other big surprises. Europe and Asia continue to be very robust. Whether Asia will pass up Europe before 2011 as we predict still might happen, but you have to count things as they happen and not worry so much two to three years out.
IPTV Update: What is accounting for that surprising growth at Verizon? Is it what some commentators have said is an increase in resources devoted to marketing now that infrastructure is in place, the success Verizon is having in winning franchises approvals, all of the above or some other factor?
Gary Schultz: I think also they are able to negotiate better than their competitors expected they would be able to with the content companies. We probed them three years ago about that, asking them who they have onboard and who really understands content acquisition. Not just in linear content, but also on interactive content. They were already gearing up for this two to three years ago. They were getting some top people into the fold. So even at that time, we knew they would have the capability. We didn’t know for sure that they would have the will, especially given what happened in the mid-‘90s when Bell Atlantic swung and missed big time on content acquisition and content development.
You could argue that they would never want to get that lost in an area where they had no experience, but this time they went out and got some really great people. They hired some good people away from cable — a lot of good acquisition people and content people. So that told us they were serious and that they were going to be able to get their hands on reasonably good content and reasonably good services, and I think that has come to pass.
Another thing worth mentioning about their services is they were talking the convergence game a year and half to two years ago already. Again, a lot of us were very skeptical about where V CAST was going to work and would they be able to use video content on multiple platforms. And I think that is starting to come to pass also with their handheld SmartPhones and so forth. I think what they are offering is unique in itself and has a fresh look and an easy interface and good quality. So it’s not being perceived as another half-hearted effort at playing like a cable company. Their focus is really on differentiating themselves. Multiplatform distribution is an area where they are already proving themselves and they are putting big resources into that.
They seem to understand the problem and to allocate resources to the real technical challenges of multiplatform distribution, and I think that is starting to show in their numbers. Another example of their technical commitment is when, effectively, they took over middleware development from Microsoft and have rewritten and tested virtually all of the middleware except for some EPG code left over from Microsoft. The true test is that this new (home-grown) middleware can scale as well and as fast as it has. So, people don't doubt Verizon's software expertise anymore either.
In addition, they have not reneged on the infrastructure build-out as well. They have persisted in doing their build-outs on a community-by-community and township-by-township basis, but are also doing it at the state level where possible, which has smoothed the path for them.Tell Us What You Think!
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