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Deutsche Telekom reports IPTV takeup surge - in France

  • 13-10-2006 8:31pm
    #1
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭


    T-Online France Reports IPTV Take-Up Surge
    CEO Says “Customers’ TV Viewing Habits Are Changing”

    In all the predictable vendor hype surrounding IPTV at BBWF, it was reassuring to hear one operator in the conference echoing some of the claims being made on behalf of this technology.
    “What we’re finding is that IPTV is changing the TV viewing habits of customers,” said Marie-Christine Levet, CEO of T- Online France.

    Launching its basic IPTV service package for €29 per month in June this year, T-Online entered one of the most competitive IPTV markets in the world. There are currently five IPTV operators vying for customers in France.

    But the early signs of IPTV take-up, according to Levet, are encouraging. Of its broadband subscriber base who are eligible for its ‘club internet’ IPTV service -- that is, the ones that have at least a 6Mbps link -- Levet says that 70 percent have signed up. And of that number, one quarter has already used a VoD service while 30 percent has paid for a ‘premium’ pay-TV package.

    Levet puts the high take-up rate down to the ‘unique TV experience’ that IPTV gives over rival terrestrial and satellite offers. Using Microsoft TV’s IPTV Edition software, Levet cites the instant channel-changing functionality -- zapping -- as critical (there are 130 channels for club internet customers to choose from). “Customers will not like the TV service if they have to wait a few seconds to change channels,” she said.

    Other attractive functions, said Levet, included the 80GB hard drive capacity on the STB that allows customers to record up to 50 hours of programming on the PVR (personal video recorder). And then there is the ease of VoD use -- a couple of clicks from the main menu -- and an EPG (electronic programming guide) that extends for 14 days.

    According to Levet, the French market is ripe for IPTV. “The pay TV market is mature [over nine million cable and satellite TV subscribers], but the ARPU of these operators is not increasing,” she said. “IPTV is new and exciting.”

    Broadband penetration is also comparatively high in France -- 41 per cent of households have an ADSL connection compared with 32 percent of households in Germany and 15 percent in Spain. Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Online, chose France as the first country (where it has an ISP operation) to launch an IPTV service.
    But while competition will no doubt be tough in the French IPTV market, the room for growth appears to be high. Of the 10.5 million broadband subscribers in France, only 1.7 million are IPTV subscribers. And according to research cited by Levet, only eight per cent of users in France have even heard of VoD while only one per cent has used it.

    If the household budget per year is €70 for VoD then Levet estimates that the VoD market in France alone would be worth €165 m per year.

    --

    The World Broadband Forum Europe
    held in La Défense ended yesterday –
    other news links for this event-

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    IEC Announces Infovision Awards
    VP Pays Tribute to 'Unique and Beneficial' Contributions
    T-Online France Reports IPTV Take-Up Surge
    CEO Says "Customers' TV Viewing Habits Are Changing"
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    Thomson Predicts 75 m IPTV Users By 2009
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    .probe


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