Blurring the lines – the three key areas for successful Mobile Video

September sees two significant events in the Service Provider world – the launch of the new iPhone, and the annual IBC gathering in Amsterdam. It was only a few years ago that these events wouldn’t really have been linked, yet now the mobile and video industries are closer than ever, with the lines between the two becoming increasingly blurred.

We’ve witnessed the spread of Binge viewing services into mobile, with consumers being offered all you can eat connectivity and bundled content, mirroring what happened in the fixed world only few years ago. In India the launch of the Jio phone has the potential to bring high quality video to tens of millions, completely by-passing fixed line connectivity. Content providers are starting to create mobile first, and mobile specific content, and the IOC recently announced their first Olympic mobile broadcaster.

Visual Networking Index (VNI) research is predicting a 9 fold increase in mobile video traffic in the next 5 years And, of course, this growth will be biased towards audiences who expect to consume the content they want how and when they want it.

Commonly referred to as Millennials, we classify these consumers as rapidly transitioning audiences, who are moving through their life stages quickly, and want services to match these transitions. They will likely leave their childhood home, may live in shared accommodation and then ultimately become the bill payer themselves. Their viewing habits and needs will change with these transitions, and so mobile services are perfect for these consumers. For the Service Provider there is an opportunity to build market share and loyalty, with the potential to provide primary screen services as well.

So what needs to happen to create these successful services? What is the critical path for the Service Provider looking to be the single vendor of mobile connection and content?

We’ve identified three key areas that the Service Provider needs to focus on to create and maintain successful bundled products:

Service creation needs to be able to leverage the network, and the network needs to be aware of the Service. The network can no longer just be a dumb pipe, it needs to be smart, and to be able to understand the context of the content flowing across it, and to automatically configure itself for maximum efficiency.

Service delivery needs to be able to take advantage of the intuitive network. There needs to be data and analytics gathering across all parts of the delivery chain, which can be used by the Service Provider to generate insight into the customer experience, and continually improve it.

Quality of Experience (QoE) needs to be predicted, not just measured. By understanding the bandwidth required to deliver an appropriate QoE the network can pro-actively self-configure to make sure that the consumer is getting the best possible service without interruption, keeping the consumer happy and reducing the likelihood of churn.

With this network infrastructure in place the Mobile Operator is able to start delivering their services at high quality and at scale. And they will be able to start doing it today, so that as 5G begins to roll-out their brand is already synonymous with the best bundles and services already on the market.

Cisco is uniquely placed to provide this capability, with our experience in fixed and mobile networks, and our knowledge and skills in delivering high quality live and on-demand video for some of the world’s leading Pay-TV operators

If you’d like to know more, then visit the Infinite Video Platform page.