EE said Wednesday that it hopes to extend the multiscreen element of EE TV beyond WiFi to its cellular network later this year, as a growing proportion of consumers access content on mobile devices outside the home.
"We’re working on it," Matt Stagg, senior manager of network strategy at EE, told Total Telecom on the sidelines of a press conference hosted by Ericsson at its London media hub.
"The goal is this year," a separate company spokesman added.
At the event, Ericsson’s head of broadcast and media services, Thorsten Sauer, predicted that by 2020 mobile devices will account for 50% of the time users spend consuming video, and 50% of video content will be on-demand as opposed to linear programming.
"Finally we see convergence," he said.
Ericsson has spent several years and ploughed a considerable amount of capital into acquiring media assets, and now it is one of the biggest players in content production, distribution and consumption. Recent purchases include Tandberg TV, Technicolor’s broadcast services division, Microsoft Media room, and Red Bee Media.
At Ericsson, "we have the opportunity to talk a lot with telcos and media companies," Sauer said. Media companies want to transform their businesses so they can put their content on more platforms, while for telcos, "the role of media is very high on their agendas," he said.
According to the Swedish kit maker’s market research arm, Ericsson ConsumerLab, the change in viewing habits is being driven by primarily 16-24 year-olds.
"That’s a generation that has grown up with the Internet. That’s a generation that is putting more demands on content providers," said Sauer.
Video consumption on smartphones has jumped 44% since 2012, while 26% of consumers are place-shifting – watching the same content on different screens in different locations – on a weekly basis, Ericsson said.
Operators like EE are facilitating this transition by rolling out 4G networks that are better-equipped to handle video content.
"3G is a communications network that does some data. 4G is a data network that also supports communications," said Stagg.
Mobile operators today are building video distribution networks, he said. "Like it or not, that’s what you’re building."
As well as investing in 4G capacity and coverage to support video usage, EE for its part is also betting on upcoming technologies like LTE broadcast, which will ease the strain on its mobile network and enable new video experiences like video replays and a choice of camera angles for live sporting events, for example.
It is also getting into traditional TV services.
Launched in October 2014, EE TV offers a set-top box (STB) with a host of eye-catching features, such as a remote control app for Android and iOS devices, the ability to transfer content instantly from a handset to a TV by flicking the scree n upwards, and a multiscreen feature that can simultaneously stream live or recorded content to up to four devices.
However, today, EE TV is very much pitched as an accompaniment to the operator’s fixed-line services. It is bundled at no extra cost with its fixed broadband packages, and the multiscreen experience is limited to devices connected to the same WiFi network as the STB. EE does already offer a mobile TV service, but it is completely separate from EE TV, and comes as a bolt-on to its mobile tariffs.
That looks set to change with a fully converged EE TV service in the offing. In addition, EE’s acquisition by incumbent BT – itself a growing player in the TV market – brings with it TV anywhere potential.
"We’re on the cusp of convergence," declared Ed Vaizey, minister of culture and the digital economy, making a nod to the BT-EE deal during a brief appearance at the event.
Operators like EE also need to make sure their mobile TV services are affordable. According to Ericsson ConsumerLab, data prices and the cost of subscribing to content are the two biggest barriers to mobile video adoption.
In terms of content, the U.K. has a lot of free domestic TV, noted EE’s Stagg, which removes one of the barriers. Some operators are also partnering with content owners to bundle access to certain TV channels, such as Vodafone offering Sky Go, for example.
Meanwhile, lowering the other barrier– data costs – is partly a case of educating customers about what their current data allowance will enable them to do, and operators being more creative with price plans.
"Today we still have voice, text and data," said Stagg. "In future, it could be voice, text, data, and video."
