IPTV World Forum Eastern Europe 2008

• The conference will feature over 20 speakers from Eastern European Telcos & ISPs
  discussing IPTV service deployment issues
• Leading Eastern European content players and broadcasters speaking
• IPTV showcase area in the exhibition featuring service demonstrations of European & worldwide IPTV deployments
• Select industry exhibition with leading 30 IPTV providers focusing on key technologies to aid IPTV deployments in Eastern Europe

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The number of digital TV households in Western Europe is going to grow from 61 million in 2006 to 116 million by the end of 2011, according to figures from Informa Telecoms & Media, representing 90 per cent growth over the period. The same research company predicts that in Eastern Europe, digital uptake will grow from 6.1 million digital TV homes in 2005 to just under 32 million households by the end of 2011, representing 520 per cent growth over the period. That will still leave Eastern Europe with only 23.4 per cent of television homes receiving digital services in five years time, compared with 75 per cent of Western European households at the end of the forecast period. These figures (all courtesy of Informa Telecoms & Media and taken from their reports 'Eastern European TV' and 'Western European TV') reinforce the impression that for IPTV operators targeting Eastern Europe, there is still everything to play for.

Informa calculated that 4.6 per cent of Eastern European TV homes received digital services in 2005, and the company's figures clearly illustrate the potential in the region for the delivery of advanced services. They show that the number of digital TV homes in the Czech Republic and Hungary will grow eight-fold, with Romania witnessing a 10-fold increase. Eastern Europe's current digital TV powerhouses, Poland and Russia, will see four-fold and nearly eight-fold digital TV growth respectively. Poland will have 6 million digital TV homes by the end of 2011 and Russia will have 10.6 million. But that still only represents 47 per cent digital penetration in Poland (by 2011) and 19.8 per cent in Russia.

For regional incumbent telecoms operators, major European telecoms groups looking to expand in the region, ISPs and other alternative broadband service providers, these figures are both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is clear - a relatively immature television market where there is strong economic growth combined with significant structural changes that will drive new media services, including the impact of privatisation, EU accession, telecoms deregulation and new investment in telecoms/media infrastructure. The challenge for IPTV providers is to take enough market share to make a viable business in the face of competition from cable and satellite, both of which will be seeking to exploit existing customer relationships to migrate subscribers to added-value digital services.

This market potential, and the opportunities and challenges presented to IPTV providers (and also their cable and satellite rivals) in the region, are the reasons Informa Telecoms & Media launched IPTV World Forum in 2006 in Budapest. This event was followed up in 2007 with a successful conference and exhbition in Prague.

Eastern Europe has its own character in terms of Pay TV penetration, the mix of analogue versus digital, satellite compared to cable and terrestrial, international versus local content, and the penetration of advanced, interactive services like VOD and PVR. IPTV World Forum Eastern Europe 2008 - which returns to its original host city, Budapest - will reflect this and the region's own economics, business and competitive dynamics and consumer aspirations.

The event will also draw upon the experiences of IPTV in Western Europe, where Informa Telecoms & Media has held the IPTV World Forum in London for the last four years and charted the emergence of IPTV as a technology and business. Thus IPTV Eastern Europe will also provide access to the thinking that is now driving major IPTV providers forward in advanced markets, including the strategies for differentiating services in mature digital TV environments, expanding revenue generating opportunities to repay investments, and ways to reduce subscriber churn.

IPTV World Forum Eastern Europe 2008 will consider the current Pay TV markets in the region and the strategies of major players in terms of digital migration, the introduction of two-way interactive services and triple-play or quad-play offers. It will investigate the benchmark services required for IPTV market entry including broadcast TV, VOD and PVR functionality. Key business and marketing issues will also be addressed, like how much on-demand content is enough, whether service providers need a 'long-tail', how on-demand should be packaged and monetised, and what role on-demand and interactive advertising can play?

On-demand is a key differentiator for IPTV and in many instances, IPTV providers in Eastern Europe can pioneer the service in their markets, so this service category will be addressed in detail. The conference will consider content acquisition and rights deals with broadcasters, sports and movie rights owners, for example. Among other areas for discussion: does free-VOD help customer acquisition, and does it help to upsell pay-per-view VOD services to subscribers using free on-demand services? Are broadcasters ready to support 'Replay TV', adding their broadcast programming to the on-demand archives, and what type of on-demand content works best in the region?

We will also focus on the emergence of PVR as a key weapon for churn reduction and revenue generation and ask whether any digital TV service can attract high-end subscribers without it. Why do some IPTV providers put hard-disk PVR set-tops in the home, and others use network storage? What are the business models (subsidisation, consumer purchase, retail etc.) for PVRs. What lessons can be drawn from other markets regarding rights issues and the way operators, broadcasters and advertisers work together to get network PVR services launched? Are 'start-over TV' type services (programmes ready to view on-demand soon after the broadcast stream begins) good enough for now, or should operators seek full network PVR (instant availability of the on-demand stream)?

IPTV World Forum Eastern Europe 2008 will address the fundamental access issues for xDSL and FTTx based services and consider the role of digital terrestrial television (DTT) in delivering live broadcast television, where this is possible. What effect will the emergence of DTT in the region and, eventually, digital switch-off, have on the market? Are major telcos looking to become television providers on all platforms - following the vision of KPN in the Netherlands (DTT, IPTV and eventually mobile) and Bell Canada (satellite, fibre-to-the-home and now DSL trials)?

The conference will consider the impact of HDTV, covering consumer demand and HD-ready television penetration, content availability and the economics of delivering broadcast and on-demand HD across telco networks. Is HDTV a business for Eastern Europe today, or just a service? Indeed, a persistent theme of IPTV World Forum 2007 is how IPTV can be moulded into a revenue generating business and not just an attractive consumer proposition.

In 2008 we will highlight the impact of major telecoms groups in the region and how this is shaping the television environment, asking whether the emergence of quad-play strategies involving voice, data, video and now mobile telephony can provide a competitive advantage. The bundling of mobile phone with broadband and IPTV is a significant new development that plays to the strengths of larger operators, but where does it leave ISPs whose traditional business is broadband connectivity with perhaps some portal/content business but no television offer? Is there a future for the single-play or dual-play in Eastern Europe and, if so, what are the strategies for success? Is television/VOD becoming a basic requirement for any broadband-based service bundle and, if so, just how many providers can deliver television successfully? Is the future of ISP-delivered video in subscription, Pay TV or 'free-to-air' advertiser-driven services, or both? How can ISPs set themselves apart from other broadband/IPTV providers?

Our 2008 event will look at the big picture and also set the scene for issues that are starting to emerge in advanced Pay TV markets where IPTV providers have to fight even harder to differentiate themselves. For example:

* What is the role of local news and community affairs for IPTV, and how can this be exploited in practice?

* How relevant is content mobility (downloading movies from a PVR to a portable device, or moving it to other rooms on televisions or laptops)?

* Is there a market for user-driven content, where local drama groups or football teams record their own plays/games and make them available to a very local audience over the IPTV network?

* Can personal video blogs encourage strong customer loyalty from young adults and teenagers?

* What role can Internet TV play in IPTV strategies, and is there any desire to exploit on-demand content that is available on the open Internet within an IPTV service offer, perhaps even routed onto the television set?

* Can Internet-originated movie file download services be used as a surrogate VOD service in parts of a country where an IPTV network cannot reach (the AT&T Homezone model)

* What role is there for the emerging wholesale model (letting third-parties sell services, like games-on-demand for example, over an IPTV operator's network to their subscribers)?

* Can Eastern European operators benefit from remote access services (users controlling their PVR via the Web or mobile phone; users seeking access to in-home IPTV video streams on portable devices)?

* Is the market ready for cross-media convergence in the home, like telephony, texting and instant messaging via the television?

* Does the region need multi-room TV, multi-room DVR and multi-room HD DVR?

* What are the advantages and disadvantages of developing middleware themselves?

* How can telecoms operators and ISPs harness their consumer brands for multi-platform, multi-play strategies?

* Can content packaging innovations (including 'a la carte', subscribe-for-a-day, try-before-you-buy or even non-subscription pay-as-you-go models) help differentiate services and increase revenues?

* Is it worth searching for exclusive content, what new content models can be exploited for exclusivity (on-demand sports, for example) and how should operators source it?

* Is there an opportunity for IPTV to make itself the friend of advertisers and broadcasters who rely on adverts by making intelligent use of on-demand and interactive/targeted advertising?

Delegates who have attended IPTV World Forum Series events will know that our shows have a much higher-than-average input from operators. Our 2008 event in Budapest (20-21 October 2008) will continue this pattern, giving visitors valuable insight into the plans, deployment and expansion strategies, technology choices, business models, marketing approaches and future considerations of many of the region's key players. Our operator speakers are helping to make IPTV a reality in Eastern Europe and they will be joined by a carefully selected group of commentators and experts in various fields of technology, business and content to provide a balanced show that covers the topics that are relevant to this region today.