IPTV Revenues Will Only be Significant if Providers Focus on Service Issues, Says Motive

February 6, 2007 - New research from Accenture and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) shows that the majority of technology, media and telecoms executives are now confident that IPTV will generate significant revenues within three years, with quality of service issues (currently the main obstacle to consumer adoption) set to recede over this period.

However, Ben Geller, director of industry marketing at Motive, believes that service providers are underestimating the challenge of rolling out IPTV services and must overcome monumental hurdles before IPTV can become mainstream.

"More IPTV services, such as those launched this week by Tiscali and Virgin Media, are appearing all the time, but no matter how exciting the technology seems, consumers won't stand for a service that is faulty or prone to glitches - even if these issues are resolved over time.  In this increasingly competitive market place, providers only have one chance to get it right and overcoming this technological complexity must be their priority if these positive revenue predictions are to come true," said Geller.

"In their haste to unveil their IPTV services, there is a danger that providers will downgrade the importance of factors such as customer services and support.  But it is these factors that will prove key to the long-term success and profitability of IPTV.  What's more, with the growing popularity of quad-play, and the customer's desire to move content between different devices, these technical considerations are even more important, as consumers simply won't pay for an unreliable service," continued Geller.