{"id":68023,"date":"2014-10-08T08:40:54","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T13:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=68023"},"modified":"2017-04-07T20:34:29","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T01:34:29","slug":"4-takeaways-digicels-anticipated-entry-cable-tv-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2014\/10\/4-takeaways-digicels-anticipated-entry-cable-tv-market\/","title":{"rendered":"4 takeaways from Digicel\u2019s anticipated entry into the cable TV market"},"content":{"rendered":"

Digicel is well known as a mobile\/cellular provider, with a presence in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. However, recently, it has been acquiring a number of cable\/subscriber TV operations across the Caribbean. Here are four takeaways from those activities.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past several months, Digicel has made a spate of purchases of cable\/subscriber television (TV) operations across the Caribbean. As at the time of publishing, the firms acquired would give Digicel an operation in six countries from which to jumpstart its entry into the cable\/subscriber TV market (Exhibit 1). However, its most recent acquisition of majority stake in International Media Content Limited, the parent company Sportsmax and North American broadcaster CEEN-TV, has given the firm virtually immediate access into 23 markets.<\/p>\n

\"Exhibit

Exhibit 1: Select cable TV acquisitions by Digicel between 2013 and 2014 (Source: Digicel Group)<\/p><\/div>\n

Without a doubt, Digicel would have expended considerable sums \u2013hundreds of millions of United States Dollars \u2013 on those acquisitions; hence they are likely to be crucial components in is longer term strategic thrust and where the future of technology is going. Here are four things that we can take away from the firm\u2019s recent activities.<\/p>\n

1. Voice is dead<\/h3>\n

Although telecoms firms across the region have been avidly opposing services that use Voice of Internet Protocol, voice services is just one of many that the Internet can support. More importantly, compared with other types of information transmitted over the Internet, for example, text, images and photos, generally voice communication consumes relatively little bandwidth, and tends to be seen as virtually inconsequential by many. Furthermore, voice tends not to be the way the most active demographic on the web (those between 18 and 29, Pew Institute<\/a>) communicate, which again underscores the limited attention it tends to be given.<\/p>\n

The Internet has changed how voice, especially mobile\/cellular is perceived, and consequently its value. It is no longer the cash cow for telecoms firms, where there were very clear and well-known rules, along with a consistent and predictable value and revenue. In today\u2019s mobile\/cellular communication space, voice service is a secondary capability, behind texting and data services, and a strategy built primarily around voice \u2013 as Digicel\u2019s appear to have been for several years \u2013 is no longer tenable.<\/p>\n

2. The Internet is the new playground<\/h3>\n

Following from the previous point, the emergence and dominance of the Internet \u2013 as a technology and infrastructure used by telecoms companies to deliver their services, and as the medium of choice by consumers to access and use a broad range of services \u2013 should not be underestimated. Current thought is that the Internet will continue to dominate into the foreseeable, as its full potential and the opportunities that can be harnessed through it, are yet to be fully realised.<\/p>\n

For an entity, such as Digicel, which had built dedicated mobile\/cellular networks through which to deliver mobile\/cellular services, the changing landscape is likely to have had it feeling somewhat pigeonholed. Hence for the more astute, those changes would have been an impetus to update their infrastructure and roll out new Internet-based services, such as the \u201c4G Broadband\u201d service using WiMax that Digicel offers in a number of countries across the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

3. Content is, and will continue to be, king<\/h3>\n

The Internet is a medium for content. Though the success of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, is undeniable, video traffic is expected to grow and dominate into the future. According to Cisco<\/a> report published earlier this year:<\/p>\n