The growth and popularity of over-the-top (OTT) content is an opportunity, not a threat, nearly 70 percent of respondents told a survey conducted by broadband software provisioning and activation provider Incognito Software.
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Chart: How service providers view OTT content and services. (Source: Incognito) |
The survey interviewed both regional and large cable and broadband operators serving less than 100,000 and more than a million subscribers across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The biggest threat from OTT is not that subscribers will wander away from pay services but that they will consume more bandwidth and how to handle that increased consumption, according to the report, "The Growth of OTT Content: Opportunities and Challenges for Service Providers." About 82 percent said they've upgraded their network infrastructure to handle traffic they see coming from streaming video sites.
Of particular interest to Incognito is the type of monitoring software being used to detect and control broadband usage, determining that about 62 percent of the respondents only used one type of monitoring tool.
Stephane Bourque, Incognito's president and CEO, pointed out that OTT is, in the end, forcing broadband operators "to rethink their business models and how best to add value to their subscribers--and the survey results show that there is no single answer when looking at operators of different sizes and across multiple geographies."
While the way operators perceive OTT--as a positive or negative influence--varies, "one thing is constant: their network usage is going to increase," Bourque continued. "Investing in better bandwidth monitoring and management tools will allow them to offer more customized services on a per-subscriber basis, which will ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty in the long run."
For more:
- Incognito Software issued this press release
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