» Qwest Sticks with DirecTV; Dismisses Idea of IPTV NetworkTelecommunications Industry News

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

Qwest Sticks with DirecTV; Dismisses Idea of IPTV Network

6:55 am on January 15, 2008 | Category: Business, Telecom Services, Television

America’s third-largest telecom carrier, Qwest Communications, has ruled out the possibility of launching an IPTV network, stating that the implementation of such a network would be too expensive, and predicting that most young customers prefer to find online video content for themselves.

This means that satellite broadcaster, DirecTV, will continue to provide the TV component of Qwest’s triple-play service bundles.

â€œI don’t want to do IPTV â€“ it’s too expensive, and there’s not enough scale,â€ commented Qwest CEO, Edward A. Mueller, in an interview with Telephony Online. â€œWe have more subscribers that we’ve signed up to DirecTV than Verizon has on FiOS or AT&T has on U-Verse. We believe (consumers) will want a customized ability to get HD Video On Demand, and the only way to that is to have enough bandwidth so its real time.â€

One factor influencing Qwest’s decision may be DirecTV’s plans to launch its own Video On Demand service using home broadband connections.

â€œThe young consumer of the future will want broadband on demand, and they are more interested in interaction and in the symmetry of the service,â€ Mueller explained. â€œWe have a great relationship with DirecTV, and they have a core competency in content. What we want to be able to provide is that 20-Megabit internet connection that is more important to the younger consumers of today. They not only don’t want a wireline phone, they also don’t want to have a TV â€“ because they use Video On Demand.â€

Qwest is reportedly planning to invest some $300 million over the next two years on rolling out a 20-Mbps VDSL service to about 1.5 million of its customers.

Telecommunications Industry News