It dawned on me this morning that talking about over-the-top services (OTT) as if they are different from the services provided by our incumbent carriers, is a little bit insulting. They are simply service providers who are using new channels to market that have evolved in recent times.
When we say OTT we somehow imply that these guys are a little bit sneaky, and that they are using bandwidth that they shouldn't be using. But that's simply not true. They tend to be businesses who are very focused on the needs of their customers and less focused on the capabilities of the pipes running to their customers. They use whatever network and payment capabilities they can get their hands on, to get to their customers in an efficient fashion. The successful OTT services surrounding video, music, games and gambling all have one thing in common - they adapt rapidly to customer consumption habits and change with ruthless efficiency. And their rapid market uptake seems to indicate that this may well be a successful model that the incumbents should start adopting.
So rather than pushing OTT away, perhaps SP's should embrace OTT and try to implement an internal OTT mentality. Give some of your product managers free rein to adopt an OTT style in developing iteresting and compelling services, and see what happens!
Posted
09-08-2009 4:50 AM
by
Martin Creaner