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Report: European Operators Consider VOD a Competitive Differentiator

By Anuradha Shukla, TMCnet Contributing Editor

A recent report by ABI indicates that operators will employ VOD (Video On Demand) as a key differentiator in acquiring new subscribers given the increasing competition for video services in Europe.

 

The research firm points out that VOD is fast becoming a must-have feature, and the operators with the technology already in place should differentiate even further via HD VOD in addition to increasing the size of the content library. In a recent report, Video on Demand and Ad Insertion Markets, ABI has categorized the growth of VOD subscriber levels in the context of programming and functionality.

 

Paul Lee, ABI Research (News - Alert) analyst said in a statement that the number of concurrent VOD streams will increase markedly over the next five years. He explained that the Asia-Pacific region is poised to experience high levels of growth: from 1.66 million VOD streams in 2007 to almost 21 million in 2013. The global trend toward increased usage of VOD streams is expected to multiply tenfold throughout the years 2007 to 2013, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 45 percent.

 

Over the past few years, a large number of companies set up their VOD offerings with the intention of boosting future subscriber numbers.

 

According to Lee, Western Europe will see the strongest surge in VOD users with the largest subscriber base and a slightly higher ARPU than North America, thereby making it the eventual leader in the market.

 

The research firm points out that since its inception in the early 2000s, Video on demand has remained relatively dormant. This dormancy is expected to break as the evolution of video consumption has prepped consumer interest for VOD services. Also, the arrival of IPTV (News - Alert) operators that offered true VOD from the start has raised the bar of VOD services.

 

 

Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anuradha’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

 

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