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Carrier Services
T-Online France Reports IPTV Take-Up Surge
CEO Says “Customers’ TV Viewing Habits Are Changing”
by Ken Wieland
In all the predictable vendor hype surrounding IPTV at BBWF,
it was reassuring to hear one operator in the conference
echoing some of the claims being made on behalf of this
technology.
“What we’re finding is that IPTV is changing the TV viewing
habits of customers,” said Marie-Christine Levet, CEO of T-
Online France.
Launching its basic IPTV service package for €29 per month in
June this year, T-Online entered one of the most competitive
IPTV markets in the world. There are currently five IPTV
operators vying for customers in France.
But the early signs of IPTV take-up, according to Levet, are
encouraging. Of its broadband subscriber base who are
eligible for its ‘club internet’ IPTV service -- that is, the ones
that have at least a 6Mbps link -- Levet says that 70 percent
have signed up. And of that number, one quarter has already
used a VoD service while 30 percent has paid for a ‘premium’
pay-TV package.
Levet puts the high take-up rate down to the ‘unique TV
experience’ that IPTV gives over rival terrestrial and satellite
offers. Using Microsoft TV’s IPTV Edition software, Levet cites
the instant channel-changing functionality -- zapping -- as
critical (there are 130 channels for club internet customers to
choose from). “Customers will not like the TV service if they
have to wait a few seconds to change channels,” she said.
Other attractive functions, said Levet, included the 80GB hard
drive capacity on the STB that allows customers to record up
to 50 hours of programming on the PVR (personal video
recorder). And then there is the ease of VoD use -- a couple
of clicks from the main menu -- and an EPG (electronic
programming guide) that extends for 14 days.
According to Levet, the French market is ripe for IPTV. “The
pay TV market is mature [over nine million cable and satellite
TV subscribers], but the ARPU of these operators is not
increasing,” she said. “IPTV is new and exciting.”
Broadband penetration is also comparatively high in France --
41 per cent of households have an ADSL connection
compared with 32 percent of households in Germany and 15
percent in Spain. Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Online,
chose France as the first country (where it has an ISP
operation) to launch an IPTV service.
But while competition will no doubt be tough in the French
IPTV market, the room for growth appears to be high. Of the
10.5 million broadband subscribers in France, only 1.7 million
are IPTV subscribers. And according to research cited by
Levet, only eight per cent of users in France have even heard
of VoD while only one per cent has used it.
If the household budget per year is €70 for VoD then Levet
estimates that the VoD market in France alone would be worth
€165 m per year.
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