Ericsson has identified the individual TV experience as the concept that will drive business growth for operators over the next 10 years. To deliver the individual TV experience, the whole telecom industry will go through a massive strategic shift, requiring out-of-the-box thinking, new business approaches, flexible organizations and proven technologies.

Ericsson individualized the telecommunication experience by making Full Service Broadband a reality. Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President and Head of Ericsson’s Multimedia organization, says Ericsson is now moving toward an individualized TV experience.

“Now we are enabling people to personalize the way they watch television,” Wäreby says. “This means TV can be watched anywhere, on any device, and on all types and sizes of screen. This also means freedom, choice and control for the consumer.”

Research carried out by Ericsson's ConsumerLab has found that the main target group for future TV services is made up of “digital natives” - young, energetic and global consumers who have grown up with ubiquitous connectivity, an explosion of digital content and a strong desire to connect.

“To give these consumers the TV experience they want, personalization and interactivity are not the only requirements,” Wäreby says. “TV also needs to be easy to use, affordable and of high quality.

“Our commitment to the individual TV experience can be seen today in our open-architecture approach to full-service broadband, ecosystem leadership, and the overarching solution offering we are bringing to market,” Wäreby says.

Kurt Jofs, Head of Ericsson's Networks organization, says that Ericsson’s customers need high-capacity networks with both fixed and mobile access to be able to deliver the individual TV experience to consumers.

“In order to differentiate your TV services you need a powerful network. We call that network full-service broadband,” he says.

“IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an intelligent service platform that enables interactivity and convergence between communication and TV services. IMS is a key component in the evolution to the individual TV experience,” Jofs says.

In addition to the technological solutions and consumer insight, Ericsson has a Global Services organization with 29,500 service professionals and a Prime Integrator offer that can help operators to deploy and integrate their TV services in the future.

“In the Global Services organization, we have systems integration professionals including TV experts spread around the world, close to customers,” says Franck Bouetard, head of Systems Integration and Telecom Management Solutions at Ericsson’s Global Services organization. Ericsson has already deployed more than 60 mobile TV and video solutions and more than 180 IPTV commercial and trial contracts for its customers.

Bouetard says the acquisitions of TANDBERG Television, Redback, Marconi and Entrisphere have strengthened Ericsson’s total offering. “We deliver and integrate end-to-end TV solutions starting from the TV headend; middleware, routers and transport, fiber, copper or radio-based access. We also customize portals from leading suppliers to provide a superior consumer experience,” he says. “We also integrate related solutions to manage the services in terms of provisioning, quality of services and charging to ensure a real end-to-end TV solution and meet consumer expectations of the experience.”