Presentations stimulating a discussion about Telco services and their future compared to over the top (OTT) services. Presented at ngnlab.eu workshop 2011 in Delft, The Netherlands.

1. The operator's dream - The OTT's reality?!
Sebastian Schumann
Slovak Telekom, a.s.
Next
Generation
Services
3rd ngnlab.eu workshop
3. November 2011
Delft, The Netherlands
Hosted by:

2. Goal
¡ Briefly analyze Telco and Over-The-Top services
¡ Define next generation services, what users might
demand from them, and what providers can offer
¡ Provide an opinion on what Telco’s can do to stay
/or become again/ “smart”
¡ Discuss, question, exchange, propose, …
IDEAS and OPINIONS

3. Telco services
¡ Operators mainly offer the following services
nowadays:
¡ Voice (fixed/mobile)
¡ Messaging (SMS, MMS)
¡ Network connectivity (fixed/mobile)
¡ Television
¡ These services are currently in transition
à Operators slowly perceive them as actual services
¡ Convergence so far only from sales perspective
(bundled packages)

4. Telco services ctd.
¡ “Voice” service has undergone a big change in the
past
¡ Network and service were conjunct (“assured delivery”)
¡ Interconnect and call-through fees for the network
operator were paid
¡ Telephony was overall source of income
¡ Mobile messaging gets competition
¡ Better programs from OTTs with increasing reach
¡ Web integration important (Facebook, Twitter)
¡ IPTV is rather television over IP than “TV 2.0” so far

5. Telco’s (forced) transitions
¡ Operators made new investments
¡ Data networks (fixed, mobile)
¡ IPTV started
¡ Currently connectivity is widely deployed and IPTV
as a single product is established
¡ IP Multimedia Subsystem
¡ IP connectivity
¡ IPTV
All-IP
5

6. OTT services
¡ IP based from the very beginning
¡ Long history of integration (APIs, functionality)
¡ Some services are only mash-ups of other services
¡ Monetization not always trivial
¡ Ad based
¡ Premium tariffs: subscriptions, features
¡ Usually require smart end devices
¡ Smart phones, smart TV (incl. set-top-boxes like PS3, Xbox)
¡ Greenfield conditions, not afraid to fail

7. Next generation services
¡ Hard to define, different for Telco’s and OTT’s
¡ Requirements
¡ Converged high-quality access (fixed, mobile)
¡ Fast TTM, adaptive
¡ Integrated (w/ core, other services, devices)
¡ User centric
¡ Generate revenue
¡ Easy to use
¡ BETTER
?

8. Is that so?
¡ Telco services
¡ Converged high-quality
access (fixed, mobile)
¡ Fast TTM, adaptive
¡ Integrated (w/ core, other
services, devices)
¡ User centric
¡ Generate revenue
¡ Easy to use
¡ BETTER
¡ OTT’s services
¡ Converged high-quality
access (fixed, mobile)
¡ Fast TTM, adaptive
¡ Integrated (w/ core, other
services, devices)
¡ User centric
¡ Generate revenue
¡ Easy to use
¡ BETTER

9. Telco’s vs. OTT’s
¡ Similarities
¡ Software handles logic
¡ Network complexity is decreasing
¡ Differences
¡ Understanding of ‘service’
¡ Addressed market (partially)
¡ Managed vs. unmanaged service delivery
¡ Third party integration (e.g. cloud)
¡ Revenue generation vs. user relation

10. Telco’s opportunities
¡ Residential segment
¡ Churn and revenue prevention
¡ Create individual unique selling points within local market
¡ Mash ups
¡ Follow the move of the web 2.0 hype and integrate
applications and services (mash-ups)
¡ Gain revenue from possibilities to generate new services on
top of IMS and IPTV
¡ Business segment
¡ Provide communication interface for customer's web
presence
¡ Provide integrated „new“ communication services (CaaS)

11. Telco’s new All-IP advantages
¡ Rapid application development on top of a service platform
¡ Cheaper launch of services
¡ Faster time-to-market
¡ Third party interfaces
¡ Vertical integration with own and public services and enablers
¡ Horizontal service development on open platform
¡ Open frameworks/API’s on top of the IMS
¡ Telco offer enhanced web API‘s and mash-ups for own services
(click2dial, web phone, CaaS, QoS)
¡ Telco integrates web 2.0 services to enrich own service base
(integrate Facebook, Youtube, Netflix)

12. Telco’s challenges
¡ Partially wrong communication with the customer
¡ Customer still has the choice for technology
(analog, ISDN, IP-based)
¡ Wrong understanding:
IP-based à Telephony via the Internet à Why not Skype?
¡ Wrong processes internally
¡ Process complexity hinders better time to market
¡ Lifecycle changed
¡ Managing local vs. global competition

13. Service scenarios
¡ Integration of comm’s with existing IP based television
à Use all services and devices in your domain for an overall
service experience
¡ Extend business voice products towards unified
communications
à Voice is not the only product anymore, but multi-channel
interoperable communications
¡ IT integration to gain unique view about users
¡ Subscribers become users, strong OSS/BSS support required
¡ Identity management to be able to map users

14. Service scenarios ctd.
¡ Not only keep QoS on IP (“assure it’s not worse”) but increase QoE
(“make it better”)
¡ High-definition will become standard also in communications (voice,
video)
¡ Blended services
¡ Communications as enabler (presence, messaging, multi-media)
¡ Integration with own services
¡ Capable of being integrated with external apps (APIs)
¡ New business/tariff models
¡ Ad supported calling (TV set has enough screen estate)
¡ Traffic vs. content billing (more understandable for the user)
¡ Multiple devices per user, SMS vs. chat (per-message-billing)
¡ Web integration

15. Integration
¡ Integration is important
¡ Back-end service logic can be integrated now
¡ Service enablers, application layer integration
¡ Rich set of multimedia services accessibility from
anywhere, anytime with the same experience
¡ Service personalization on user/group/community level
¡ Follow the real user demand for new services
à define new service requirements now
¡ “Reusable capabilities” concept to minimize complexity
of systems

16. Conclusion
¡ Telco’s have to open up their architecture – the
future is not a walled garden!
¡ Users needs a reason to use their applications –
they have to federate with the web!
… or it will be accessed directly
¡ The Web 2.0 is user centric and open to be
extended with applications – the Telco 2.0 should
follow this approach
¡ Churn and revenue prevention with often forgotten
chances that mash-ups offer

17. Summary
¡ Overview about a few challenges in the service area as
well as approaches how to cope with them
¡ Highlight Telco’s potential in the growing competition
¡ Motivation to rather act now than wait for the perfect
standard
¡ Utilize existing infrastructure
¡ Integrate on the back-end
¡ Blend services
¡ Integration is important (internally as well as externally)

18. Sebastian Schumann
seb.schumann@gmail.com
@s_schumann
Thank
you!