Summary of article posted on ovum.com:
Is the walled garden for video services a blessing or a curse for IPTV operators? Can it be used for competitive advantage or will it simply hamper telcos’ success as providers of TV and film services, with consumers turning en mass to broadband video services provided over the public Internet?
There are plenty who argue that IPTV will be short-lived because of competition from what are now termed in the US ‘over the top’ providers – players such as Google, Yahoo! and Joost, whose offerings effectively allow consumers to bypass telco-controlled (and indeed CATV, satellite TV and terrestrial TV) services and pull content towards them over the public Internet. We believe there is room for both IPTV and Internet TV, and that players from both camps will be more successful with certain consumer segments than others. Quality, consistency and the ‘safe’ environment of the IPTV service with the walled garden at its centre should in fact be presented as a core differentiator by IPTV operators. IPTV and Internet TV will cater for different requirements – both the’sit forward’ and ‘lean back’ environments will continue to co-exist. It’s quite possible that one day we will see a’Joost’ or ‘Google’ IPTV channel or even service as part of a telco’s proprietary IPTV offering.