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Viewing report
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IPTV: Driving Pay TV in Latin America
Business Monitor International, Aug 2009, Pages: 34
Operators are increasingly looking for ways to increase their revenues by adding new content to their services. IPTV looks set to be a major driver of fixed-line operator growth. In BMI’s “IPTV: Driving Pay-TV Growth In Latin America” report we look at how the market looks set to expand in the region and some of the challenges facing operators and regulators to expanding the reach of these services.
IPTV in Latin America
There is little doubt as to the internet’s impact on any number of industries, companies and individuals. There is an ever growing range of data available with content continually expanding, and the potential for using the internet seems limitless.
For telecoms operators globally, this has provided opportunities for growth as the internet is used for an increasing range of services. Additionally, it has offered telecoms companies the chance to expand their own product portfolios. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) allows companies to offer video services over their internet networks, although, for this to take place, it requires higher speeds to be available than those needed by regular services such as email and accessing websites.
The lines between the broadcasting market and telecoms industry have become increasingly blurred, with broadcast content available on a PC and internet services accessible from a TV screen. The crossover of these two markets sees pay-TV operators moving into the telecoms market and traditional telephony providers seeking to offer broadcast services.
For a successful launch of IPTV services, there are several considerations that must be borne in mind, including the limits in reach and speed of existing network infrastructure, appropriate regulations and ensuring the right content is in place. For the Latin American market, it is the second of these that has thrown up the greatest barriers to the expansion of IPTV in the region.
Nonetheless, several telecoms operators in Latin American countries have already launched IPTV services or have announced their plans to expand their existing infrastructure and product offerings to include these services. Here BMI investigates some of the key issues of launching IPTV in Latin America and reviews existing products already available in various markets.
Regulations
One of the key barriers to IPTV growth that has been seen across telecoms markets in all regions of the world is the conflict between the regulation of broadcasting services available over telecoms infrastructure. In many cases the existing regulations had not anticipated the crossover of the broadcasting market with the telecoms industry. This has certainly been the case in Argentina and Mexico where incumbent operators are prevented from offering pay-TV services under their existing concessions. Changing the laws governing the telecoms sector, however, can be a long process, putting pressure on fixed-line operators that are anxious to move into new areas of the market.
As incumbents usually have the widest reach in terms of fixed-line infrastructure, these companies retain a considerable advantage when looking to roll out IPTV services. If smaller operators cannot build out such infrastructure, the chances of offering IPTV services are considerably more limited.
However, some smaller operators have built out small fibre-optic networks and begun offering pay-TV services. Brasil Telecom launched a video on-demand (VoD) service in 2008 but cannot expand to offering a full range of IPTV services owing to restrictions over ownership of pay-TV operations in the country.
While there are several examples of regulatory difficulties in Latin American telecoms markets regarding the launch of pay-TV services, and consequently IPTV, other markets stand out for having made few restrictions to launch. Peru and Colombia in particular are notable as their regulations have not restricted the fixed-line companies present in their markets from offering pay-TV services, thus reporting IPTV launches by Telefónica del Perú as well as Une-EPM in Colombia.
Making the changes in the market requires considerable political will, and the dominance of incumbent operators often makes changes an unpopular move. Additionally, there is conflict under whose remit pay-TV services then falls: is pay-TV the responsibility of the broadcasting regulator or the telecoms watchdog?
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