2020 Trends to Watch: 5G Telco- Bundled Media Services

摘要

5G promises to turbo-charge mobile networks, opening new, exciting possibilities of what can be delivered over them, such as virtual-reality (VR) experiences, multiplayer video-game streaming, and dedicated bandwidth for live broadcasting. But how well these use cases will translate into fruitful bundling partnerships between 5G network operators and OTT media companies is not clear. Most still represent embryonic markets, but operators are keen to offer 5G media bundles beyond the current bundling staple of subscription-based video and music streaming services (e.g., Netflix and Spotify). This report identifies and puts a value on the 5G telco-OTT media bundling opportunities coming up in 2020. Mobile operators are spending billions of dollars on the rollout of 5G and, in the race to monetize their new networks, they are looking for ways to stand out from competitors – beyond just competing on price and megabits per second. By bundling compelling OTT media services with their 5G subscription plans, operators can show off what their networks can do and offer perks to new customers. However, the most exciting media experiences enabled by 5G either have yet to spawn mature enough OTT markets from which to choose suitable partners (e.g., cloud gaming and AR/VR) or clash with the operators' own-brand media ambitions (e.g., live-sports streaming and esports). Nevertheless, the advent of 5G also coincides with profound transformation in some of these markets, which should have multiplied partnership opportunities by 2020. And there are limits to how far operators will be able to go with their own-brand 5G media rollout plans. Ovum predicts that 2020 will see cloud gaming come to the fore on the 5G media bundling front, closely followed by partnership opportunities in the live-sports streaming space, and that 5G-bundling-derived media revenue will start to take off (see Figure 1).