Ericsson was the largest provider of IPTV and multi-screen services in the world, by marketshare.
The Rise of the Cord-Cutters & Cord-Nevers
In 2017, the streaming market in the United States was growing. The pay-tv industry for cable and satellite peaked and market conditions were showing both a user interest in cutting-the-cord (meaning: leaving cable subscriptions) and the rise of the over-the-top (OTT) consumer seeking bespoke content. These consumer trends in addition to the sunsetting of cable lock-up agreements for broadcasters, reduction in the cost in creating original content, pervasiveness of broadband speeds, and technology advancements of the cloud and adaptive bitrate streaming meant for many more options for consumers.
Ericsson’s media business was a worldwide business with customers in the US (AT&T) and 100s of other counties. While the suite of services was primarily marketed to cable and telecommunication providers like Vodafone in Portugal, the market forces behind consumer behavior and original content were driving demands for innovation beyond a standard US cable company offering. Consumers had very little choice in a pay tv offering and, as a result of this lack of competition, the industry famously had the highest customer dissatisfaction ratings by sector. When consumers are not a priority due to low competition, innovation becomes stagnant.
These market forces in the US provided a unique opportunity for the suite of media products being sold in other markets. It was akin to seeing into the future of television for markets outside of the US and allowed us to set our customers up to take advantage of new features that would differentiate them from their competitors’ legacy cable offerings. As a version 1.0 product, we also had the opportunity to architect the products in a manner that took advantage of the latest technologies.
Consumer Experience
