The triple-play market is not reaching its full potential. Content and branding issues are hampering operator strategies to increase customer numbers, according to the latest report by Analysys Mason.
The report – Multi-play services in Western Europe: market sizings and forecasts 2008-2013 – estimates that the number of Western European households subscribing to a triple-play package is forecast to rise to 31.1 million by the end of 2013, representing an average annual increase of 17% since 2007. The proportion of households in Western Europe that will subscribe to a triple-play service will increase from 7% to 18% between 2007 and 2013. Spend on triple-play services will increase to EUR14.8 billion by 2013. This growth in triple-play households will primarily be driven by the continuing take-up of IPTV services and the upgrade of cable networks.
"While the increase in triple-play household penetration is promising, adoption is far from overwhelming," says the report author Richard Hadley. "This suggests that triple play, despite its advertised benefits of lower prices and greater convenience, remains a supplier-led proposition."
"The take-up of triple play will be slower than expected for a number of reasons, including a lack of compelling TV content from telcos, difficulties in transferring telco brand attributes to the TV content market, fixed-mobile substitution and, in some cases, a legacy of poor customer service," concludes Hadley. Adoption of triple-play services in 2013 will be highest in the Netherlands (36% of households), France (33%) and the UK (24%).
This report presents forecasts for multi-play services (triple-play, double-play and single-play services) and includes data on penetration and spend in Western Europe as a whole, and for France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Nordic region, Spain and the UK, individually.