Bundled Services are of Key Importance in Converged Telecom Market

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

Bundled Services are of Key Importance in Converged Telecom Market

8:00 am on May 29, 2006 | Category: Telecom Services, Telephone, Internet, Television, Wireless

In order to substantially increase average revenue per customer, telephone and cable operators will need to beef up their product bundles by adding additional offerings, according to a recent study by Parks Associates.

The research firm said that in addition to the standard triple play (telephone, internet, and television) bundle that many companies offer, providers need to look at adding extra services like home security, satellite radio, web hosting, and most of all, wireless.

At this point in time, cable operators like Comcast and Time Warner in the U.S., and Shaw and Rogers in Canada, have a notable advantage over their telephone rivals. This is because every cabled home already has a connection capable of delivering the three core triple play services, while telephone carriers need to install fiber-optic cables in order to offer television services and some types of high-speed broadband.

“It’s going to take a couple of years before we actually see them competing head to head with cable operators,” Parks research analyst Deepa Iyer said, adding that telephone companies like Verizon and AT&T will have to outdo cable providers price-wise, in order to eliminate this head start.

In terms of advanced services, however, most telephone carriers do have the one key advantage of an in-house wireless offering. As the big phone providers fully integrate cell phone service with their triple play offerings, they are gaining the important “wireless advantage,” which cable providers are already struggling to gain.