Executive overview
Growing demand for enriched communication and personalized content is fueling a mass market for multimedia services. Users want services that can be delivered seamlessly over any screen, at any time, anywhere. We understand the new multimedia ecosystem, and provide services and solutions that deliver a richer user experience.
- All user groups can benefit from multimedia services. The early adopters are the digital natives, who thrive on instant gratification – their “I want it now” attitude drives the multimedia market.
- Broadband-enabled telecom operators are ready to deliver advanced digital content and communication services to handsets, and high-definition IPTV to the home.
- Users don’t just want entertainment – they want multimedia services that help them in their everyday life, allowing them to work on the go and instantly share experiences with family and friends.
- The business world is embracing services such as messaging and video-conferencing. Web 2.0 applications are going mobile, giving operators new opportunities to increase premium service uptake.
- In high-growth markets a user’s first interaction with the internet is often via a handset. The mobile phone instantly becomes an important gateway to the web.
Users increasingly expect access to all their content, communication services and communities at any time, anywhere, and on any screen, to maintain a consistent user experience. Meeting this expectation requires a collaborative ecosystem that includes telecom operators, media and internet players, developers, device companies, telecom providers and industry interest groups.
The mass market for multimedia is driven chiefly by digital natives: those who grew up with mobile phones and the internet. Digital natives crave interactivity and function best when networked. Earlier generations, or digital immigrants, have already adopted many of the characteristics of the digital native, setting in motion a rapid transformation of the entire media market.
Convergence of services and networks is blurring the distinctions between TV, PC and mobile-device experiences. This will perfectly suit multi-tasking digital natives who have been connected and networked all their lives.
Multimedia services build on the user’s need for easy-to-use, multi-session engagement, whether this is social networking, creating content, sharing videos and music, collaborating on mash-ups or instant-messaging.
The potential rewards are huge for operators, content providers and internet players: global combined consumer and enterprise spending on the use of multimedia services is projected to grow from $29.8 billion in 2006 to $177.7 billion in 2011, according to IDC Research.
In emerging and high-growth markets a user’s first interaction with the internet is often via a handset. The mobile phone instantly becomes an important gateway to the web – for business and entertainment purposes.
New business opportunities are opening up, and rapidly new players are entering the multimedia market. Telecom operators are pursuing strategies of cooperation and partnership, breaking down the walled garden and shifting from mainly charging for traffic to adopting new business models based on access fees, transaction fees advertising or combinations of these.
Media companies are exploring new distribution channels, while the internet has made peer-to-peer distribution and user-generated content possible.
Telecom operators, media companies and internet players enter the market with their own business strategies, setting the stage for transformation. At the end of the day, success will depend on the ability to deliver on user expectations. These include the business model, quality of service and a seamless multimedia experience across diverse networks, screens and formats.
We work with all of the players within the multimedia ecosystem to ensure users get the richer communications experience they demand. With our in-depth consumer insight, innovative solutions, and understanding of the importance of interoperability and standardization, we know what it takes to capture the multimedia business.
