IPTV - Astro TV conducting trials with Time dotCom; Mobile Telcos Price War?

Astro TV conducting IPTV trials with Time dotCom

By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: With Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) venturing into the broadcasting business with its IPTV (internet protocol TV) offering, Astro TV is not about to let any of its market share slip by without a fight.

It is learnt that Astro TV is conducting trials for its IPTV offering in Mont Kiara by riding on Time dotCom Bhd’s (TDC) fibre optic fast-speed network.

Astro TV needs an IPTV platform and if it were to wait till sister company Maxis Communications Bhd completes its network build-up, that may well give TM an edge in some places.

Hence, the trials with TDC which began at the end of July involving about 100 users.

Sources said this was a technical trial for the Astro b.yond to determine if the network was able to carry enough video content at fast speed. TDC is providing the GPON infrastructure for the trials.

A GPON access network not only enables telcos to build and support video services, but provides the ability to scale the network to deliver any bandwidth-hungry services such as HDTV (high definition TV) and VOD (video on demand), an IP-based broadband video service.

Astro needs a minimum of 15-20 megabits per second (Mbps) for content delivery and TDC’s network can provide up to 100Mbps. Sources said trial users were able to watch all of Astro’s programmes in HD and 3D quality.

The trials make TDC a potential contender for access to Astro besides Maxis. However, since TDC only focuses on multi-dwellings such as condominiums and apartments blocks, its reach may be limited. TDC finds it too costly to focus on fibre to the home as done by TM.

TM is bundling IPTV with its high-speed broadband service known as Unifi. But content will remain the differentiating factor in the IPTV business. For now, Astro has rights to loads of content but don’t underestimate TM as it is tying to link up with a lot of content providers to make its IPTV proposition appealing.

Maxis, on the other hand, is working overtime to get a fast-speed Internet network up. It has appointed Huawei as the exclusive supplier for the next generation network. Maxis said the job would also include the building and managing of a full-service Fibre To The X network using GPON technologies.

Maxis has also conducted trails for IPTV involving 50-odd users during the recent World Cup.
Whether Astro will need more than one player to deliver its IPTV content is unclear but Maxis certainly is building a fibre optic network in its quest to become a quad player and it will have to rely on content from Astro.

ASTRO :  [Stock Watch]  [News]
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Analysts don't expect lower prices for mobile phone services

By LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my

Price war unlikely but telcos are expected to compete on device offerings, say analysts

PETALING JAYA: While cellular companies may have posted rosy profits during the latest reporting season, analysts say the second half will not be an easy period for them.

Analysts do not expect an all-out price war between telcos but they do see competition heating up on device offerings such as smartphones.

“Both DiGi.Com Bhd and Maxis Bhd will be offering Apple Inc’s iPhone 4 soon. Pricing details have yet to be revealed but consumers will always opt for the best bargain,” an analyst said, adding that the average revenue per user (ARPU) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin for telcos would remain under pressure.

DiGi had earlier cautioned that its EBITDA margin for 2010 might be pressured due to higher level of handset subsidies.

“Both DiGi.Com Bhd and Maxis Bhd will be offering Apple Inc’s iPhone 4 soon. Pricing details have yet to be revealed but consumers will always opt for the best bargain,” an analyst said. Pic shows Apple iPhone 4 on display at the registration desk at the headquarters of KT in Seoul on Monday. Apple’s newest smartphone will be officially released to Korean consumers on Friday. — Reuters

 

AmResearch Sdn Bhd said that despite a recent reduction in interconnection fees to 5 sen from 8 sen previously, the competitive landscape between telcos remained status quo. “There is yet to be a full-fledged price war,” it said.

The research house said ARPU continued to decline on a blended basis and reckoned that ARPU was almost reaching saturation point.

Within the postpaid segment, AmResearch said ARPU increased 2% to 4% in all three companies in line with the growth recorded in usage minutes.

“Voice is taking a backseat to non-voice, parallel to other developed countries. This trend should persist to a saturated level, where voice usage would hit its floor – as observed in the fixed line segment – within the next two to three years,” it said.

AmResearch said all three mobile companies were recording significant growth in broadband usage, with Celcom Axiata Bhd leading with more than 50% market share followed by Maxis (35%) and DiGi (15%).

The research house said the telecommunications sector was still undervalued, with enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EV/EBITDA) ranging between 5.42 times and 8.11 times. It said regional peers were valued at an EV/EBITDA of at least 9 times.

An analyst said the possible slowdown in the second half could lead to a cut in consumer spending.
However, the analyst said he was still confident about the industry’s outlook given the number of new mobile devices being introduced into the market.

He expects non-voice revenues from wireless broadband and data value-added services, including mobile Internet, messaging and content services, to drive growth for telcos moving forward.

The analyst said his top pick was Axiata Group Bhd as it “has a good regional story with presence in 10 countries and good-performing assets in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”