“Quadruple play and service bundling will not work for all service providers”, says visiongain report

San Francisco, CA and London, UK - A new visiongain report warns that while service providers are hoping to build on their success with two-play by deploying triple and quadruple play packages, this approach will not work for all providers. The report, “Quadruple play and service bundling strategies: 2006-2011,” argues that bundling has the potential to revive the fortunes of service providers only if they develop packages that are in tune with their market segmentations.

Visiongain has found wide regional disparities between the number of households subscribing to bundled services, and the evolution of triple and quadruple play is going to differ drastically by region.

For instance, almost half of all North American households subscribed to some type of bundled service in 2005. Two-play services accounted for 40% of all households, while those subscribing to triple play accounted for only 9.5% and a mere 0.4% of all households subscribed to quadruple play services. However, competitive pressures will accelerate the uptake of triple and quadruple play from 2008 onwards.

This contrasts sharply with visiongain’s estimates of triple and quadruple play uptake in developing markets. In the Middle East and Africa, for example, only 0.3 million households will be subscribing to triple play by 2009, and only 0.1 million to quadruple play. This compares to over 96 million households that will still be without a service bundle.

Service providers are increasingly looking at bundling as a means of reducing churn and increasing revenue. However, these service providers also face significant hurdles along the way.
“Bundles that include IPTV are not suited to all markets and service providers should focus on adding value to their existing services before embarking on significant expenses that may not yield the expected financial rewards,” says visiongain analyst and the report’s lead author Dr Jean-Pierre Aubertin.

“Our research suggests that quadruple play is going to be limited to affluent countries and even then may only be marketable to select target groups. In developing markets, we believe that emphasis should be placed on offering two-play bundles and mobile services,” adds Dr Aubertin.

“Bundling is the way forward for service providers if they develop packages that are in tune with their market segmentations. They should not blindly follow others and invest in technologies that have little chance of bringing a return on their investment but carefully develop packages that meet their customers’ needs.,” concludes Dr Aubertin.

This 130-page report provides an analysis of the current triple and quadruple play markets, including product offerings, pricing, strategies and business case viability. It also explores regional opportunities for bundled services to households as the market evolves.

ENDS

Notes for Editors
If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, including the Executive Summary, charts and images, please send an email to sara.peerun@visiongain.com or phone Sara on +44 (0) 20 7336 6100.


About visiongain


Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, visiongain produces a host of business-2-business conferences, newsletters, management reports and e-zines focusing on the Telecoms, Pharmaceutical and Defence sectors. 'Visiongain has a global client base, with offices in London and San Francisco.
Visiongain publishes reports produced by its in-house analysts, who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port-of-call for the business professional, who needs independent, high quality, original material to rely and depend on.

For more information on visiongain, please visit the website: www.visiongainintelligence.com