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Barriers to take-off in Americas While a recent survey cites reasons why IPTV will appear more slowly in the Andean countries, operators in Chile prepare for commercial launch. Branislav Pekic reports on the plans of Telefonica and others
Would-be IPTV providers in South America must overcome regulatory, technical and financial obstacles, according to a study prepared by Signals Telecom Consulting, a telecommunications consultancy specializing in Latin American and Caribbean markets. According to Diego Bubillo, one of the authors of the study, the development of a robust IPTV market depends upon a mature broadband market, “and in this sense the Andean Region is showing a serious delay compared to the rest of Latin America.” Signals indicated four key factors preventing the development of broadband in the Andean countries of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru: the lack of an adequate telecommunications infrastructure, a low level of GDP per capita, the lack of terminals for accessing the service, and the high costs of broadband (including the installation costs and monthly fee). Inadequate broadband Three additional barriers are specific to IPTV. First, the infrastructure of the majority of the operators in the region does not posess sufficient capacities to offer IPTV. While 15-20 Mbps are necessary for an IPTV service, broadband speeds currently arrive at no more than 2 Mbps. Also, the cost of the customer premises devices are high, as there are no economies of scale. The fixed monthly cost of the service also appears as a financial barrier, as the per capita income of the Andean countries is below the levels of the most developed countries. Third, the report warns that IPTV must overcome regulatory confusion over converged services that have traditionally been regulated by different governmental agencies. Co-author Jose Otero believes that the main fixed telephony incumbents in Colombia (ETB, EPM and Telecom) can become the IPTV leaders there. However, he points out that the rate at which they launch IPTV services, as well as their geographical coverage, will depend on the outcome of EPM’s attempts to expand its CATV services license and of ETB’s acquisition of CATV operators such as Supercable. Such acquisitions would serve to diversify the broadband offer of both operators, allowing them to provide expanded services without the need to invest in IPTV technology. Chilean advance In Chile, as the future of digital terrestrial TV is still in question, IPTV is advancing. Broadband and cable operator VTR recently purchased routers and other equipment from Cisco Systems, with the goal of upgrading its video over cable system to an IP transport infrastructure. The move anticipates the arrival of competitor Telefonica’s own IPTV platform, Imagenio. The general manager of Telefonica in Chile, Jose Moles, confirmed to IPTV News Analyst that the operator is in its final stages before the market launch. Meanwhile, a US-based company, IP-TV Americas, was to begin operating an IPTV service in Chile and Panama by the end of September. This satellite transporter operates from Miami and offers fibre optic access to telephony companies on the continent via the NAP of the Americas. IP-TV Americas hopes to sign up 3 million subscribers in Latin America, in partnership with small operators. |
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