Market Leader Update
August 2006
MRG has just released the latest version of its IPTV Market Leader report. This shows which companies are leading globally and in four regions worldwide within in each of the six market categories we are tracking.
These ratings were based on ranking companies based on the number of subscribers in the 474 IPTV service providers that we have identified globally.
Mergers and acquisitions have had a big effect on these ratings. Tandberg’s acquisition of Skystream put it into a solid number two position globally and number one in Europe and Asia. Motorola’s acquisition puts it into the number one position in set-top boxes. The Alcatel/Lucent merger will put the resulting company in a strong number one position globally.
The conversion of in-house middleware packages to merchant status is the second major trend. PCCW’s Cascade subsidiary has sold its middleware package to True in Thailand. Converting the Cascade middleware to merchant status put it into the number one position globally.
Lucent has taken over the support of Telefonica’s in-house developed middleware software. Lucent is starting to aggressively market this software as a product, at least to Telefonica subsidiaries in Latin America.
The IPTV market is still forming. We expect that these ratings will continue to change significantly as the Market matures over the next couple of years.
{Note: analyst comments are italicized}
For more information, consult our IPTV Market Leaders Report - Sept. 2006
Source: MRG, Inc., August 2006 IPTV Bulletin
Verizon Under Siege
August 2006
Verizon lost 4.2 million switched access lines in 2005, which is more than twice the 1.9 million switched access lines that AT&T, BellSouth, and Qwest lost together.
While AT&T and BellSouth have been successful in reducing the rate at which they are losing switched access lines in 2004 and 2005, Verizon took a big turn for the worse in 2005.
Verizon has very strong cable competition, particularly Cablevision in the New York area that has had quite successful VoIP offerings
For more information, consult our MRG, Inc., August 2006 IPTV Bulletin
Free's Q2 Results
August 2006
The number of broadband subscribers at Free in France grew from 1.8 million to 1.9 million at the end of June. The number of IPTV capable subscribers grew to 1.4 million. The company now has 273 thousand subscribers paying for at least one IPTV service. Its subscribers have purchased 803 thousand video-on-demand features since it was introduce in December 2005.
Source: MRG, Inc., August 2006 IPTV Bulletin
Cisco to Acquire Arroyo
August 2006
Cisco agreed to acquire video-on-demand system company Arroyo Video Solutions. This extends Cisco’s IPTV coverage into a new market segment and puts it directly into competition with Microsoft.
Arroyo has been focusing on the U.S. cable market and we have not identified any IPTV deployments. Arroyo’s strategy is to focus on personalization, which plays on a real IPTV strength.
The question now is what Cisco will do so that it can compete head-to-head with the Alcatel/Lucent/ Microsoft colossus. Middleware is the key missing element, but Content Protection/DRM is important as well. Cisco is an investor in leading Content Protection/DRM company Widevine.
{Note: analyst comments are italicized}
Source: MRG, Inc., August 2006 IPTV Bulletin
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