Martin Ornass-Kubacki, VP and chief regional officer of SES in CEE, looks at how Sat>IP can reduce operators’ costs.
OTT platforms are mostly used to carry video services.
And by VOD, I mean a request for specific content, irrespective of whether it is offered on a subscription or transactional basis. Linear TV requires enough network resources of the operator to handle increasing demand for TV traffic.
Looking at various operators, I’m not sure if there so many – or indeed any – who make a significant profit from a stand-alone VOD platform. In fact, the only parties that probably do are CDNs and content licence owners.
On the other hand, a pure OTT platform for linear content can also prove to be a costly undertaking for an operator. To offer the required quality, they will have to employ a CDN provider and this is likely to prove to be more expensive than a DVB network, for example via satellite.
Indeed, the more successful an operator is – certainly in terms of the number of individual customers who want to watch the same programming at the same time – the more expensive their transmission costs will be.
So, what is the solution? I strongly believe that the perfect one is a mix of satellite and OTT, with linear channels distributed primarily via satellite and VOD offered via internet (OTT).
Additionally, the Sat>IP solution, which is effectively a new IP-based architecture for receiving and distributing satellite signals, also allows linear channels to be displayed on tablets and hand held devices without an internet connection, thereby offering a real multiroom experience.
At the end of the day, I don’t believe that end users differentiate between OTT and DTH, providing both are available in their homes. Ultimately, what they want to have is an excellent video experience, on any device in their homes, and perhaps also in Ultra HD.
