Reality Check: Now is the time for cable quad play

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
Convergence of communications and entertainment services, a hot-button topic for years, often is pushed aside for consideration at a later date. But for cable operators, specifically those in North America, the time for execution is now.
Consider the quadruple-play bundle of television, Internet, landline telephone and mobile. With cable operators’ long history providing three of these four services, this was once their exclusive realm. This exclusivity is quickly disappearing as traditional telcos roll out their own mass-market deployments of full-scale video service and enter the quad-play space with force. Cable operators still have the advantage of an established customer base they know and serve well, but to retain these subscribers, they must forge ahead immediately with their own definitive mobile strategies.
Despite competitive pressures, I think cable operators will thrive as long as they focus on the following three key steps:
1. Executing a network strategy: By entering the mobile space now, when network technologies and standards have been well established, cable operators have the luxury of deciding whether they want to build or borrow their mobile infrastructure. Each approach comes with its own benefits and challenges.
The approach that maximizes network control is for a cable provider to build its own network. This also is the most expensive, time-consuming option. The faster, less-costly alternative is to go with the “borrow” route. In this case, a cable provider leases existing network infrastructures that belongs to an established mobile player and then launches its wireless service as a mobile virtual network operator.
Cable operators also must determine which service delivery platform to implement. Options today range from GSM or CDMA and LTE or WiMAX – all viable alternatives in today’s marketplace.
No matter which of the disparate network or delivery technologies is chosen – there really isn’t a right or wrong route to take – a new entrant to the wireless space must ensure it is able to seamlessly interoperate with all other players and technologies. In addition, the operator must plan ahead to ensure the technologies implemented will allow for an easy evolution to next-generation technologies when the time is right.
When establishing its network, a cable operator also should consider unique ways to incorporate mobile with the rest of its quad-play offering. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by expanding the staple mobile services of text and multimedia messaging across the PC, television and wireline telephone. For example, a user could send a text message from his or her mobile that would appear on another user’s television screen via a set-top cable box. The benefit of this approach is twofold: First, its convenience and uniqueness adds a level of subscriber stickiness; second, it will naturally grow revenue from messaging by driving increased usage.
2. Establishing a global footprint: To be successful, cable providers also must offer their subscribers the same or even better level of roaming that would be available via a traditional wireless provider. The fact is that mobile subscribers don’t want to hear about disparate networks, constantly evolving technologies or the challenges of establishing and maintaining hundreds of roaming agreements. They simply care about having an affordable, high-quality roaming experience that gives them consistent access to all their services – voice, text, and data – wherever they travel. Instant, global reach from the day a cable operator launches mobile services is not a choice. It’s a must.
Fortunately, cable operators have a number of options to fulfill this requirement.
One of the fastest and most efficient ways for any new mobile entrant to establish an immediate footprint is by joining an Open Connectivity roaming hub, which provides instant roaming reach on the network of every hub member, all via a single point of entry. Furthermore, many of the best OC hubs will provide access to additional critical roaming functions, including signaling, agreement management, clearing and fraud prevention, to name a few.
A second option for immediate global reach is to connect to an existing sponsor network to take advantage of its established roaming agreements with a large number of operators around the world.
Finally, a cable operator can grow a global roaming presence by enlisting the help of a trusted third party to either fully manage its roaming operations or provide training for its in-house staff. By outsourcing all or part of its roaming operations, the operator can focus its own valuable internal resources on other areas of its mobile rollout without having to dedicate them to the tedious process of establishing and testing roaming agreements.
Regardless of the route chosen, establishing a global roaming footprint not only will increase the number of places an operator’s subscribers can roam, but also will unlock additional revenue from incremental inbound and outbound roaming traffic.
3. Leveraging co-opetition: Cable operators follow a business model that is dramatically different from traditional telcos. While there may be up to five or six traditional mobile operators serving a single region, cable providers do not compete with one another in their respective markets. Obviously, this is a tremendous advantage.
Instead of competing against each other, cable operators must pool their resources to collectively plan and execute their wireless defense strategies. This co-opetition requires providers to work together to purchase enough spectrum to ensure adequate coverage for subscribers in major cities, while negotiating roaming agreements and ensuring interoperability across each other’s networks.
At the end of the day, consumers who are selecting a communications and entertainment service provider have three main priorities: 1) value from one-stop-shop cost savings, and 2) quality of service 3) the ability to enjoy that quality of service both at home and wherever they roam. Fulfilling these demands is vital to success of any cable operator. And to stand out from the competition, they also must be able to clearly demonstrate their bundle is as good, or better, than those already launched by telcos.
The three basic steps above are only beginning of the long road to mobile success. Cable operators who accomplish all three will find themselves in the best position to succeed and gain market share as wireless continues on its path to becoming a make-or-break factor in the quad-play bundle.
Tony Holcombe is president and CEO of Syniverse Technologies (NYSE: SVR). Syniverse makes mobile work for more than 800 mobile operators, cable and Internet providers, and enterprises in over 160 countries. With unmatched expertise and more than 20 years simplifying the complexities of roaming, messaging and networking, Syniverse serves as the force at the center of the mobile communications universe, keeping people connected today and forging new connections for tomorrow. For more information, visit www.syniverse.com, follow Syniverse on Twitter or find Syniverse on Facebook.