Operators understand that they will need to offer more value on top of their existing services to keep customers on board, especially at a time when home budgets are being scrutinised and stretched.

We believe there’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity for telco and pay TV providers to diversify their retail offer, by moving beyond quad-play to ‘omni-play’ and beyond super-aggregation of video content, to the aggregation of our increasingly smart lives.

By ‘aggregating more’ operators will be able to increase customer loyalty and raise ARPU, from services as diverse as multiplayer live gaming and home security, to smart domestic energy management.

Leverage existing technology

The technology exists for providers to deliver a single gateway to services, a unified UX with single billing and customer care, and in so doing they can move from discounted bundles to ‘mega-bundles’.

This is the golden opportunity to take control of the emerging Intelligent Edge – the future brain of the connected home.

The Intelligent Edge, hosted on operator CPE such as the video set-tops, connected TVs and broadband gateways, can be harnessed to improve existing TV/streaming services and launch new entertainment offers, including gaming which is more likely to appeal to younger demographics.

The same technology can be used to take a leadership position in smart home services.  The Intelligent Edge gives operators a flexible, dynamic and elegant means to introduce new services without the overhead that is often associated with software deployment to devices in the field.

‘Aggregate More’ is already in play

The innovative bundling of new services with smart home tech like video doorbells, indoor cameras, motion/contact sensors and environmental sensors, exemplifies the new possibilities when we look beyond entertainment and connectivity and ‘aggregate more’. Sky for instance recently launched an innovative smart home protection service, Sky Protect, offering customers comprehensive home insurance and smart home monitoring devices, bundled in one app.

The recent market introduction of connected TV platforms such as Sky Glass and Comcast Xumo are additional examples of aggregated consumer offers. Sky Glass bundles premium hardware, that includes a 4K display, 5.1 channel sound and camera, with financing that is attractive to both consumer and operator. This is before adding a compelling bundle of apps and OTT services, delivered via a sophisticated, unified user experience, featuring universal search and far-field voice control.

Leading operators are clearly looking for the most efficient, cost-effective and attractive way of providing as wide a range of services and applications to their consumer base as they can. Through existing managed CPE devices, telcos and pay TV operators already have an edge in the emerging ‘Aggregate More’ market. But perhaps not for long with Big Tech snapping at their heels.

Containerisation is a key technological enabler

The power of the operator Intelligent Edge is underpinned by Downloadable Application Containers (DACs) – via an application platform with a common backend and authoring that spans the cloud and CPE.

Containerisation further supports agile product development for a community of third-party application providers that operators could then roll out under their service and provide additional value.

The same approach not only enables providers to stand up and nimbly deploy these new services but breathes new life into legacy devices as well. Since operators have invested significantly in their existing infrastructure and devices, they want to make sure they maintain their longevity. With DACs, they can. Containerisation brings cloud-like power to the home and full capability for flexible, cost-effective deployment.

The opportunity is not all about new customer-facing services. There are underlying operational benefits to be tapped as well. Operators can use the Intelligent Edge to ensure QoS and QoE across all services and applications to ensure operational effectiveness. They can deploy applications to monitor the performance of their network and key services, and proactively identify issues before customers notice and raise calls to the call centre. The net result is higher customer satisfaction, fewer truck rolls, and lower operating cost.

Find out more at IBC 2023

At IBC 2023, we invite you to meet with us and explore how we can turn that head start into clear (and unassailable) leadership, and how a next-generation service strategy can be implemented in practice. Contact us to arrange a meeting.

Learn about Consult Red in Media, Technology and Telecommunications.

Akhila Khanna, Vice President, Partnerships & Business Development, UK, at Paramount, says: “Mobile distribution is a crucial part of our strategy to reach the widest possible audience with our premium content proposition. This significant partnership with Three UK allows us to complement their broad penetration and market-leading capabilities with the high value add on streaming content from Paramount+.”

Andy Foy, Director of New Products and Propositions, at Three UK, comments: “Our partnership with Paramount+ will make some of the best and biggest TV shows and films on the planet directly available to our customers. We are excited to be embarking on this journey with Paramount+ on the UK’s Fastest 5G Network.”

Additionally, customers can watch matches from other major international football leagues, such as the Premier League, UWCL, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, FA Cup, Copa Italia and MLS. The multi-sport offering also includes MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3, F1, and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (a European basketball league), as well as a range of original programming with documentaries and other special formats.

From August, Orange TV subscribers can access sports content provided by DAZN through a specific linear channel available on Orange TV set-top-boxes (STBs), as well as through the DAZN app (which is integrated into Orange’s platform). The companies say the quality of the Orange TV platform “both in terms of image and sound, as well as usability” will provide customers watching live sporting events through the service’s STB with a stable viewing experience without delays.

Nacho García-Legaz, General Manager of Orange TV, said: “For Orange it is very important to continue advancing its strategy to make Orange TV the largest aggregator of audiovisual content in the Spanish market. Football is high-value content and a loyalty factor for our customers. Therefore, we are very proud to have reached this alliance with DAZN, which will allow us to continue to be one of the few operators in Spain that offers not only the best cinema and series entertainment, but also the best football, and now, in addition, other content so valued by customers, such as Formula 1, Moto GP or EuroLeague basketball”.

Bosco Aranguren, General Manager of DAZN Spain, commented: “We are very pleased to announce this new agreement with Orange, which is an important step in DAZN’s growth strategy in Spain. This alliance, which will further boost the consumption of sports via streaming, reinforces our commitment to bring top-level sports competitions to the largest number of fans in an easy, flexible and innovative way.”

Further details, including pricing, will be revealed in the coming weeks.

According to Amino, the solution has enabled Vodafone Iceland to adopt advanced service features for its TV service, and to deliver a continually evolving service for its customers while maximising its STB investment. The complete solution also includes SaaS platform Amino Engage, which allows the telco to “streamline” its customer service and leverage management tools to reduce operational costs. Vodafone Iceland has previously run a multi-screen OTT video service powered by Amino’s sister company, 24i.

Donald McGarva, CEO of Amino, said: “It is particularly pleasing that Vodafone was already running an OTT multi-device video platform from 24i, a sister company of Amino — further evidence that customers are increasingly choosing solutions from both companies.”

AminoOS will provide Vodafone Iceland with the device agility necessary to keep its investment relevant to the rapidly changing needs of the marketplace. Our Engage solution will also help Vodafone to reduce support costs and device lifecycle management – dramatically reducing the timescales of rolling out upgrades and new advanced services.”

Earlier this month, Amino partnered with Hong Kong-based Pay TV service Now TV (which is owned by HKT – the largest telco in the HK market), to integrate its IPTV service with OTT streaming services such as HBO GO and Netflix.

Phil Cardy, Vice President, International PLM, Home Networks, CommScope, said: “Telenor Sverige is a leading service provider that wants to grow its business with a new video offering. By using a solution powered by Android TV from the Home Networks’ business, Telenor Sverige will deliver a great viewing experience to its customers with its own branded user interface using a solution that is compact and easy to install.”

Hanna Idstam, Manager TV and Media, Telenor Sverige, commented: “We are excited to offer our customers a new TV and entertainment experience by deploying CommScope’s innovative set top solution. CommScope’s expertise in deploying solutions powered by Android TV enabled us to deliver a rich, entertainment offering that our customers have come to expect.”

The telco also collaborated with 24i – a streaming solutions provider – on the STB, who provided the software platform to power the set top’s live and on-demand viewing experience. The software platform also supports unified search and single sign-on and, according to the companies, gives Telenor “the freedom to build and design its own user interfaces.”

Dr. Neale Foster, CEO, 24i, said: “24i is delighted to support our friends at Telenor Sverige with its on-going service enhancement, including the rollout of this new generation of Android TV set tops, powered by the same 24i software platform that brings the Telenor Sverige customer experience to existing set tops, iOS and Android mobile phones as well as Apple TV devices.”

The German telco will leverage the Cloud TV Suite as a video management platform for the centralised ingest of video assets, workflow management, multi-language metadata management, video processing, content protection and rights enforcement, as well as data analytics and insights. Comcast Technology Solutions will be providing a 24×7 service level agreement as well as a dedicated support team as part of the agreement.

Pedro Bandeira, Vice President of Product and New Business at Deutsche Telekom, said:  “At Deutsche Telekom, we are committed to delivering the ultimate, world-class TV entertainment experience, which centers around the customer, through Magenta TV. This means deploying the most modern, flexible, and scalable back-end management system. We selected Comcast Technology Solutions’ Cloud TV Suite because of its ability to address our needs with market-proven reliability and efficiency. Moving to this advanced new platform will enable us to further harmonize our product roadmaps, accelerate new service delivery, and enable consistent and seamless experiences across devices and our markets.”

Ken Klaer, President of Comcast Technology Solutions and Executive Vice President of Comcast Cable, commented: “Deutsche Telekom is a global leader in product innovation and customer experience across Europe and around the world. We are extremely honored that they selected our team to help support the next-generation of Magenta TV by adopting our versatile Cloud TV Suite. We have an incredibly strong and collaborative relationship with Deutsche Telekom, and we look forward to helping them execute on their vision for the future.”

Deployments have already began in Austria and will be phased across Deutsche Telekom market over the course of this year.