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- 5 to Remember /
- Archive 2008 /
- Issue 9 /
THE HyC KNOW-HOW
Telecom's relationship with television is still new and fraught with technical challenges. So increasingly, operators are leaning on outside companies to help them launch and develop mobile TV services. Media-savvy HyC, recently acquired by Ericsson, rides high on this trend.
When delivering broadcast videos to the small screen, a key step is the conversion of the media file into 3GP and other formats suited for the mobile phone. Vodafone Spain wanted to move quickly on this once it decided to launch its mobile TV service in mid-2006.
Experts on encoding of media files were hard to come by in those days. So Vodafone Spain considers itself lucky to have found H2O AGUA, HyC's audovisual content management division. HyC had specialized early in supporting telcos and other businesses with their TV projects, sensing the opportunity ahead.
"They designed a tool especially for file conversion, and it quickly exceeded our expectations," recalls Eduardo Jiménez, Vodafone Spain's mobile TV product manager. "We would get the DVD with the program in the afternoon, and they would return it, converted, that same evening. We were impressed."
Since then, Vodafone Spain has amassed 150,000 mobile TV customers, and the service has grown to become the operator's most sought-after data offering.
A niche business that worked
HyC, meanwhile, has jumped from two to 110 employees in the last four years, reflecting the soaring demand for digital video management and systems integration services. The company, based in Madrid, boasts clients in the telecom, cable and media spheres, combining expertise from all parties with a stake in digital TV.
HyC also offers technology and strategy consulting services, along with outsourcing, to help customers capitalize on their TV investments. All this fits well with Ericsson’s IPTV and mobile TV strategy.
Returning for more
As its mobile TV offering grew in complexity, Vodafone Spain used a tender process to solicit more help from an outside vendor - only to return to HyC once again.
"In September of last year, we wanted to offer the EuroBasket basketball matches, mixing live and recorded content - something that wasn't very common in the mobile TV arena," Jiménez says. "HyC was the only company able to provide that service."
The partnership continued, most recently when HyC agreed to host Vodafone Spain's WAP access service for its mobile TV offering. The operator used to handle all WAP work internally, but decided to outsource that function to speed it up.
Screen Digest, a London-based audiovisual research house, forecasts that mobile TV will supersede gaming and music by 2011. The revenue shared by operators, content providers and other parties will grow to EUR 4.4 billion (USD 6.2 billion) that year, the firm predicts.
Vodafone Spain at a glance |
| Headquarters: Madrid, Spain Business: mobile voice and data services Subscribers: 15.8 million, including 150,000 mobile TV subscribers Revenues: n/a Founded: 1994 under different name Owners: Vodafone, UK |
HyC at a glance |
| Headquarters: Madrid, Spain Business: digital and mobile TV services Market: Iberia, Latin America and the Middle East Number of customers: 65 2006 revenue: EUR 3 million (USD 4.6 million) Founded: 2004 Owner: Ericsson |
