Quadruple play momentum

Following the recent post (Telcoflash N107) on “Triple play is not enough”, I continue to review the different moves of service providers towards quadruple play services. For memory, quadruple play reports to the ability to offer fast internet, fixed line and mobile telephony and TV services simultaneously through the same service subscription. Two new announcements highlight the interest of mobile operators to add fixed broadband services to their offerings. Orange UK (France Telecom) first announced that under its Orange brand, it will market its mobile services bundled with broadband services from its sister company Wanadoo (the Wanadoo brand should disappear soon). For Orange it is quite easy, as both Orange and Wanadoo belong to the same operator (France Telecom), and it is part of the new corporate strategy. I can bet that other traditional incumbents in Europe and elsewhere will follow the trend. BT and Neuf Telecom (France) have initiated the same move, but starting from the opposite side. Without mobile arm, they have built MVNO operations (hosted by Vodafone for BT, and by SFR for Neuf Telecom). For pure mobile operators, the move is quite more complex. Vodafone explained last week that it has to offer a broader range of services. Yes, but how? It has not yet given the answer, but speculations have risen. Typically comments are split around: an acquisition of an ISP or a fixed line operator (many targets, such as C&W, Tiscali UK, Colt, Thus or even WiMAX license holder such as Pipex, ), or develop its own network. Both strategies are expensive, but time to market could be critical. The second question could be who to target: consumer or businesses or both. According to Yankee Group, Vodafone is more likely to enter the enterprise sector than the consumer broadband market, given its strengths in the enterprise market.

Quadruple play is a hot topic, and every service provider is looking for its own way. That means next weeks will be rich of information on the subject. End May, we would be pleased to get more information on Vodafone strategy, along with its financial results.