A new Ovum study identifies mobile as the key growth channel for paid OTT video partnerships.
Ovum’s newly updated report ‘Global OTT Video Bundling Deals and Service Partnerships: 2H17’ revealed that Asia is the most active region for alliances between traditional operators and third party providers of paid online video services.
The region accounted for 39% of live partnerships tracked with mobile operators providing the main distribution channel for services arising from such alliances.
The majority of partnerships are marketing alliances based on carrier billing or set-top box integration, with bundling of OTT services into operators’ tariffs still absent from more than half of the deals tracked.
Figure 1: Partnership distribution channels
Source: Ovum's Global OTT Video Bundling Deals and Service Partnerships Tracker
“Marketing alliances are a good starting point for players to work together, but partnerships must keep evolving to generate revenue and customer loyalty for both parties. Mobile operators can become a primary sales channel for OTT video, particularly with the aid of carrier billing, which facilitates both sales and stickiness,” said Jonathan Doran, principal analyst with Ovum’s TV team.
“By continuing to forge further video partnerships, MNOs can be creative in developing data tariff strategies that will help monetize their networks and customer bases”