OTT isn’t the enemy, but there’s still an element of competition for service providers
A new piece of research by Amdocs conducted by Coleman Parkes has revealed that most service providers view OTT players as potential partners rather than as a threat, although it may all be a piece of underhanded skulduggery.
The research revolved around 50 interviews conducted by global service providers, 35 interviews with OTT and internet players, and 15 with device manufacturers.
The report notes that, with the increase in services to the market, the likes of content distributors, online retailers and social networks, service providers have to come up with more partnerships to stay competitive in the market.
However, the main takeaway was that ‘OTT isn’t the enemy’. According to service providers, 70% saw OTT as an opportunity, and 64% saw OTT as providing valuable innovation to the industry. Three in five device manufacturers said that OTT players had to “partner or die”.
That’s not to say the two will be bosom buddies anytime soon. 42% of service providers boasted that they could offer a better version of any OTT player service, and nearly two thirds (62%) said that partnering was a strategy to ‘counter or eliminate’ the OTT factor.
This goes against the perceived wisdom of service providers and OTT players not getting along, and according to Ian Parkes of Coleman Parkes: “It’s a whole new partnership landscape for service providers.
“While service providers used to form partnerships mainly for roaming and with device manufacturers, today they must navigate a more complex environment full of over-the-top, Internet, financial settlement and other players,” he added.
Elsewhere, two thirds of service providers say they have to own the customer in any partnering agreement. This is compared to 14% of device manufacturers and 13% of OTT providers who say they can see a future where they don’t own the customer experience.
In terms of what service providers bring to the party, the result was fairly clear. OTT players and device manufacturers, in the main, agreed with service providers that brand strength, network quality and customer data were service providers’ main strengths.
So the three-way relationship between service providers, OTT players and device manufacturers is still precarious, although all parties appear to realise the benefits of collaboration.
Do you think this is a push towards a more collaborative scene, or is it all a ruse?
