Survey Sez 09/11/12

Research firm NSR says the global DTH industry “is still living” in a SD world, explaining that, with two SD channels entering the market for every HD channel as well as SD subscribers outnumbering HD and DVR subscribers combined, the market remains dominated by the legacy resolutions — except for the measure that really matters: revenue. ?A new report notes that although DVR subscribers will generate the most in subscription revenues during the next 10 years – driven by North America and Western Europe – more than 64 percent of subscription revenues for the rest of the world will come from SD subscribers. However, looking in the next five to ten years, a steady shift towards HD content and HD or DVR subscription tiers is occurring across the globe…New analysis from market intelligence firm ABI Research finds mobile device and network security will top the list of carrier strategies by 2014. “Every smartphone subscriber end-point is a potential threat to the mobile network,” comments senior practice director Jeff Orr. “Non-intrusive and effective policies are necessary for carriers to mitigate these threats. Most importantly, the network needs multiple levels of security. Embedded hardware security and end-user applications represent the majority of today’s implementations”…Mobile operators can minimize the growing risk from such over-the-top communication providers as WhatsApp, Kakao and Skype by evolving their communication platforms, reassessing pricing approaches, and developing mutually beneficial partnerships with popular communication brands. According to Strategy Analytics, wireless operators can use pricing as a tool to improve the appeal of operator messaging and to discourage the use of competing OTT services, but that’s only a short-term solution. Operators need to evolve the messaging experience for customers, with RCS representing the longer-term solution to bridge the functionality gap vis-à-vis OTT service providers.