United Kingdom - Convergence - Triple Play & Digital TV

Synopsis

The UK remains at the forefront of media convergence in Europe. The country’s universal DSL and extensive cable networks have been extensively upgraded and provide an excellent delivery platform for triple play and emerging quad play services. The digital broadcasting industry, including satellite, digital cable, digital terrestrial and IPTV services, is well-established. The UK has the highest level of digital TV penetration in Europe, with a substantial multichannel environment. This report examines the UK’s markets for triple play and convergent services in 2008, including developments in Video-on-Demand, IPTV and VoIP. It also assesses the country’s broadcasting markets, providing statistics and analysis on the closing analogue FTA environment and the pay TV and cable sectors.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. Convergence
  
  • 2.1 Overview of media convergence
    
  • 2.2 Key general trends
    
  • 2.3 Triple play models
    
  • 2.4 Regulator issues
    
    • 2.4.1 Ofcom
      
    • 2.4.2 Digital Dividend Review
      
    • 2.4.3 Releasing dividend spectrum
      
    • 2.4.4 DTTV pay services
      
    • 2.4.5 Digital switchover licensing
      
• 3. Digital TV (DTV)
  
  • 3.1 Broadband TV (IPTV)
    
    • 3.1.1 British Telecom
      
    • 3.1.2 BBC
      
    • 3.1.3 BSkyB
      
    • 3.1.4 Virgin Media
      
    • 3.1.5 HomeChoice
      
    • 3.1.6 Other developments
      
  • 3.2 Cable TV
    
    • 3.2.1 Virgin Media
      
  • 3.3 Satellite TV
    
    • 3.3.1 Ofcom pay-TV market review
      
    • 3.3.2 BSkyB
      
    • 3.3.3 Freesat from Sky
      
    • 3.3.4 FreeSat from the BBC
      
  • 3.4 Digital Terrestrial TV
    
    • 3.4.1 Set-top Boxes (STBs)
      
    • 3.4.2 Personal Video Recorders (PVRs)
      
    • 3.4.3 BBC
      
    • 3.4.4 Freeview
      
    • 3.4.5 BSkyB
      
    • 3.4.6 Virgin Media
      
  • 3.5 Video-on-Demand (VoD)
    
    • 3.5.1 Virgin Media
      
    • 3.5.2 BBC
      
    • 3.5.3 Kangaroo
      
    • 3.5.4 Other developments
      
  • 3.6 VoIP
    
    • 3.6.1 Regulatory issues
      
    • 3.6.2 VoIP issues to be addressed
      
    • 3.6.3 British Telecom
      
    • 3.6.4 Orange
      
    • 3.6.5 Global Crossing
      
    • 3.6.6 Other developments
      
  • 3.7 Interactive TV
    
    • 3.7.1 Sample services
      
    • 3.7.2 ITV on cable
      
• 4. Related reports
  

• Table 1 – Availability of digital services – 2008
• Table 2 – Adoption of digital services – March 2008
• Table 3 – Proportion of bundled services by type – 2005 - 2008
• Table 4 – Statistical overview of the digital TV market – 2005 - 2008
• Table 5 – Market share of TV homes by platform (primary sets) – 2005 - 2008
• Table 6 – Digital TV take up, share of main TV sets – 2004 - 2008
• Table 7 – Share of multichannel TV by technology – 2004 - 2008
• Table 8 – Digital TV share of net additions – 2004 - 2008
• Table 9 – BT Vision subscribers – 2007 - 2008
• Table 10 – Cable TV subscribers and penetration – 2003 - 2008
• Table 11 – Virgin Media subscribers, ARPU and operational statistics – 2006 - 2008
• Table 12 – Virgin Media revenue by sector – 2005 - 2008
• Table 13 – Free-to-view satellite households - 2003 - 2008
• Table 14 – BSkyB subscriber statistics - 2005 - 2008
• Table 15 – BSkyB annualised ARPU - 2005 - 2008
• Table 16 – BSkyB revenue, operating profit and annual change - 2007 - 2008
• Exhibit 4 – Digital broadcasting switchover timetable – 2008 - 2012
• Table 17 – Homes equipped for DTTV – 2006 - 2007
• Table 18 – DTTV equipment sales – 2005 - 2008
• Table 19 – VoIP users as % of total Internet subscribers – 2005 - 2008
• Table 20 – BT VoIP subscribers – 2006 - 2008

• Exhibit 1 – Operators’ service bundling offers – June 2008
• Exhibit 2 – Technology developments in bundled services – 2008
• Exhibit 3 – Snapshot of digital TV services and providers – June 2008
• Exhibit 5 – Popular VoIP providers – 2008