In a presentation as packed as the auditorium, PCCW CTO Paul Berriman shared updates on all four segments of the quad-play. He said there is continued line gain for PCCW Fixed Line, with market share returned to 68%. Broadband lines are up 18% year-on-year, with churn halved and ARPU maintained through the netvigator, nowTV and moov services. The nowTV pay-TV service now boasts 850,000 subscribers, up 35% y-o-y, with an HD service launched. And, with over 950,000 mobile customers, Berriman said 3G users have doubled, ARPU is up 7% since launch; and Mobile TV, PCCW Mobile and moov on Mobile services have been launched.

Berriman explained how the company has sought to ‘break the rules’ or received wisdom regarding what can or can’t be done.

The fixed telephone line is dead

At 2.7million fixed lines, Berriman says PCCW maintains a stable market share of 67% with less than 1% churn per month. New innovative services have launched including integrated/fixed mobile solution one Communications, encompassing fixed line, fax, broadband and mobile; and multimedia service platform eye. At 1.17million broadband lines, Berriman said y-o-y growth is being driven by innovative applications and content. PCCW has deployed dedicated 30Mb/s VDSL and 18Mb/s ADSL2+ services for high bandwidth applications; over 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots have been deployed and expanded to the MTR (subway) and phone kiosks; and netvigator has been launched territory wide.

TV is only for FTA, satellite and cable broadcasters

At 850,000 subscribers, equating to 35% penetration as of end August 2007, nowTV momentum continues. With 150 local and international channels, Berriman highlights the Mega Sports Pack, comprising 14 standard and HD channels; as well as 70 exclusive movie, sports, news and general entertainment channels. He also points to enhanced TV viewing experience with advanced interactivity - split-screen with four live BPL matches on one channel, football betting and network based PVR (in Q4’07); and the July 2007-launched HDTV service.

IPTV is insecure and STB’s expensive

Berriman says, the benefits afforded by IPTV STB’s far outweigh any reservations about cost.

Telcos can’t get content

Berriman doesn’t mention the need for deep pockets in securing content, but he does outline the need for both breadth, and depth, of available content. He showcases nowTV’s variety of genres (including adult), encompassing local and localized, mass and niche content – as well as some ‘great exclusiveness.’

Telcos can’t handle content

PCCW has 17 channels and services, most self-produced and two out-sourced, and Berriman points to the ways in which the operator has sought to maximize its content. Exclusive sports content includes Barclays Premier League, UEFA EURO 2008TM, Italian Serie A & NHL. Live matches are simulcast on as many as seven channels over PCCW’s quadplay including mobile, multimedia and broadband and advanced interactivity has been developed such as: split-screen view, ‘inplay betting, live match data and voting features, and the 92 best matches are available in HDTV.

‘A la carte’ does not work

From PCCW’s experience, Berriman shared, amongst others, the following factors key to success. Start with a large broadband customer base enabled by bandwidth everywhere and a low cost STB decoder. Manage customer relationships with proactive outbound call centre telesales – these should be cross-selling and upselling rather than bundling. Use a la carte as a competitive entry strategy, migrating to ‘mini packs’ retaining choice. Offer a wide choice of content, some ‘killers’, some exclusives; constantly monitor progress and ensure marketing initiatives evolve to keep up the momentum.

TV is not for Mobile

With the Mobile TV service playing a key role in PCCW’s integrated wireless strategy, mobile customers have increased and market share is rising – seeing the net gain from mobile number portability. PCCW 3G customers have doubled to 119,000 with ARPU increased: 3G exit ARPU up 14% to HK$229 (US$29); blended (2G + 3G) post-paid ARPU up 7% to HK$158 (US$20) up 7%.

TV is only one-way

Citing sports as one example, via the Sports Barker, viewers can watch promotional videos of sports programming and view live match fixtures of all now sports channels. They can access live match info, including head-to-head statistics, team line-up, player profiles, team fixtures and live match scores of all games. There’s also Player-ofthe- Match voting – instant voting and results available as well as 4-game split screen for live sports coverage.

People don’t buy stuff on TV

New interactive transactional services range from content on-demand, booking cinema tickets and in-match betting, extending to other services like photo printing and delivery, dial-a-dinner and the stock market express.

In conclusion, Berriman outlined the requirements and attributes of future TV, saying that it will be all digital and will be IP-based. Bandwidth, as large as possible and practical, will be available anywhere, with large screen offering HD and small screens ‘watchable definition’. Content will range from high quality mass market productions to tolerable quality UGC, and will become available anywhere, anytime via any device – at fixed locations and on the move. He says there will always be a place for all, whether mass market, Internet PC and UGC, linear and On-Demand. Twoway interactivity will be easy to navigate and to complete transactions – and there will be ease of use, common look and feel, across all devices.

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