Partnership Building In The Iptv World

IPTV operators need to establish relationships with a wider variety of players as their services develop and mature. This report looks at the different business approaches available, focusing on the importance of partnership building.

The most important partners to date for IPTV operators have been the film and TV content providers and equipment manufacturers. IPTV operators need to establish relationships with a wider variety of players as their IPTV services develop and mature, including advertisers, device manufacturers, Internet players and merchants, as well as with other types of content providers.

Local factors that will influence the position operators take in these relationships include the types of competitors they face, the level of pay-TV market development, the status of broadband infrastructure rollout and the regulatory environment.

Three main positions are available to telcos - the wholesale approach, a joint go-to-market strategy and the leading role. While current trends are towards the latter, we believe the second approach will eventually dominate, and that it is in fact the best place to be for most IPTV operators in most markets.