Mar 13, 2006 7:35 AM,

IPTV Survey: Early adopters willing to try service

By Vince Vittore

Telcos hoping to cash in on initial interest in IP-based video services might want to consider a very traditional strategy—discounts, according to a survey by In-Stat and sponsored by Siemens Communications.

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Focusing exclusively on early technology adopters, the survey of 15,000 U.S. consumers found that only 18% of those who now subscribe to cable or satellite television, said they “probably” or “definitely” would switch to get IPTV television services from their telephone company provider. However, when offered a 10 percent savings, an additional 34 percent of the remaining non-committed early adopters said they “probably” or “definitely” would switch. Among those not willing to switch, 41% said they’re happy with their current service and pricing while 22% said it would be too much of a hassle.

Not surprisingly, the survey found that the most popular service to be offered is time-shifted TV, with 90% saying they’d be interested. Encouraging for telcos, though was that Caller ID on TV (63%), call logging (58%) and video telephony/chat (53%) scored well.

“There’s a really opportunity to blend communications services with entertainment,” said Ryan Petty, vice president of product line management for Siemens Surpass Home Entertainment group.

When asked if they would be willing to pay an additional $7.50 or less per month, 58% of those interested said they would pony up for time-shifted TV

“Consumers are really looking for features and functionality that make life better,” Petty said. “It’s really a blending of services.”

For telcos, perhaps the most encouraging element of the survey was the willingness of 47% of those interested to pay for video telephony/chat. Many independent carriers that already have deployed Caller ID on TV say it’s among the most popular services and that it’s a real differentiator from cable operators.

“Having a video call is a compelling and interesting feature, but what would be unique to an IP deployment would be the ability to press that button and do something different with that call,” Petty said.