Deutsche Telekom Adds 20K IPTV Subscribers in 4Q08

Deutsche Telekom reported that the number of Entertain IPTV lines activated climbed to around 353,000 by the end of 2008. The number of orders received up to this point in time were around 480,000. This was an increase in the number of IPTV subscribers of 20,000 in 4Q08.

It looks like Deutsche Telekom missed its goal of 500,000 IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008 by a large margin. The company seems to be struggling with creating a winning formula for the service.

Deutsche Telekom Announces IPTV Winner

The PIN Project, entered by IPTV developer team Trenfield and Regner, was declared the winner of the Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award.

With the PIN Instant Information System, useful additional details to go with the program on the TV screen, such as links to further information or the recipe of the menu that is being prepared in a cookery show, can be downloaded and shown in an inconspicuous little pop-up window on the edge of the screen. Using the remote control, viewers can then, by simply pressing a button, send the information as an URL or a text message to their PC or mobile phone and access it later whenever they want. The Instant Information System delivers information directly and spontaneously. No film is interrupted and no viewer is pulled out of the entertainment. Viewers decide for themselves whether they want this extra information and can activate the PIN system as and when required.

As the winner of the Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award the Trenfield/Regner team can now look forward to a further €200,000 in award winner’s prize money.

This has been an interesting exercise. It will be interesting to see if any of the leading applications in this contest catch fire in the IPTV market.

Deutsche Telekom Plans for 1M IPTV Subscribers by the end of 2009

Reuters published an article that Deutsche Telekom plans to have 1 million IPTV subscribers at the end of 2009. The company reportedly had 500,000 IPTV subscribers at the end of 2008.

I will be interested to see the official numbers for 2008. Apparently it achieved its goal for 2008, which was a real stretch.

Deutsche Telekom Adds 83K IPTV Subscribers in 3Q08

Deutsche Telekom announced that it had 333,000 subscribers signed up for its IPTV service in Germany at the end of 3Q08, and increase of 83,000.

At the end of September, the number of its IPTV customers in Eastern Europe was at 164,000, driven mainly by Croatia, with a total of 92,000

This nearly doubled the number of IPTV subscribers added in 2Q08. Deutsche Telekom will have to double again to reach its goal of 500,000 IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008.

Deutsche Telekom Starts IPTV Promotion

Deutsche Telekom is offering its Entertain IPTV services is now available free for a two month test and can continue the service for 10 euros per month.

The company plans to add a radio service as part of the basic package and will broadcast Bundesliga soccer games with an interactive component. It will also offer Warner Studios films on demand as soon as they are released on DVD.

Deutsche Telekom has been taking an incremental approach to making its IPTV service more attractive. It would do better to bite the bullet and make a single dramatic move that will catch the market's attention. I think its best approach will be to bundle a basic set of IPTV channels into the broadband service rather than requiring an additional fee.

Deutsche Telekom Has 200K IPTV Subscribers

Deutsche Telekom announced that it has 200 thousand subsubscribers using its IPTV service with 250 thousand signed up at the end of 2Q08. This is an increase of 46 thousand in the quarter.

Deutsche Telekom growth in the first half has been rather modest. It will have to significantly pick up the pace if it is going to meet its goal of having 500 thousand subscribers at the end of 2008.

Deutsche Telekom Selects Three IPTV Finalists

Deutsche Telekom has winnowed its 10 semifinalists in its IPTV applications contest down to three finalists:

• An Instant Information System that combines interactive TV and Internet media so that it can be accessed and retrieved at any time and place without a break in either media or entertainment.
• The user can share with family members relevant content such as news, photos and videos across media – Internet, TV and the mobile – and update a joint calendar.
• Viewers “meet” friends and acquaintances, share content and make new contacts. Via feeds shared interests are discovered and new interests are stimulated. Viewers form communities and communities extend their network.

Each of the finalists received an additional 100 thousand euros.

Deutsche Telekom will have an event on August 29, 2008 during IFA where it will present the concepts and product developments of the three finalists live. It is taking reservations for the meeting until August 25, 2008 at the following email (please include the number of people attending): interactivetvaward@telekom.de

This contest is proceeding. It will be interesting to see who the winner will be. It will be even more interesting to see how successful the winning application will be compared to the better losers.

Vote in Deutsche Telekom IPTV Contest

Deutsche Telekom is offering the opportunity to vote for one of the 10 semifinalists for its IPTV interactive application contest at http://www.interactive-tv-award.com/. The status of the contest can be found at http://www.interactive-tv-award.com/dev/.

Deutsche Telekom has 154K IPTV Subscribers

Deutsche Telekom announced that it had 154 thousand subscribers at the end of 1Q08. It also announced that it had dropped the price of its starter package by 17 percent in March 2008.

Deutsche Telekom seems to be struggling with IPTV. It previously said that it had 150 thousand signed up at the end of 2007. Apparently, it did little more than install the unfulfilled orders during the first quarter.

I think that Deutsche Telekom must bundle a basic set of IPTV channels into its basic broadband service. This will be straightforward for ADSL-2+ customers but more tricky for VDSL users. It could use ADSL-2+ for the basic offering and VDSL for premium customers.

This approach has worked very well in France. Telia Sonera's IPTV service really took off only after it included IPTV channels in its basic offering. PCCW in Hong Kong has shown how this strategy can significantly increase ARPUs.

Deutsche Telekom Announces IPTV Appplication Winners

Deutsche Telekom announce the ten semifinalists in its IPTV applications contest. Each of these semifinalists will win 50 thousand euros. These ten semifinalists will develop prototypes. The top three of these will then be selected for the final round. Each of these three finalists will win 100 thousand euros each. The three finalists will develop their applications onto the Deutsche Telekom platform. A winner will be selected from these three and will receive 200 thousand euros.

This is a great concept to stimulate application development and to generate new, creative applications. It would be great if other large IPTV providers in other regions would create similar programs.

Deutsche Telekom to Drop IPTV Charges by 17%

Deutsche Telekom announced that it will drop the prices for its IPTV service by 17 percent. This service is now available to 17 million homes in Germany.

The basic package will now cost €49.95 per month (down from €59.95) and include a 16 Mbps data service , 70 broadcast channels, video on demand, free calls to German fixed lines and a DVR. The premium packages will cost €59.95 and €69.95 per month.

This seems like death by a thousand cuts. Deutsche Telekom has been trying to get a high price for its IPTV service by European standards. Many other carriers offer it for free as a basic part of a broadband subscription or for a very low monthly fee. TeliaSonera in Sweden saw its IPTV service languish until it started offering it for free last year. Its IPTV sales took off at that point.

Deutsche Telekom Offering 1M euros in IPTV Competition

Click on this link to find out how to share in a 1 million euro pot with your idea for IPTV applications. The submission period for project ideas will kick off in March during CeBIT. Until then, potential participants can review contest details and download their starter kit.

This is quite cool. I will be putting my thinking cap on. May the best person win!

Deutsche Telekom has 150K IPTV Subscribers

Deutsche Telekom said that it had signed up 150 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 2007. Its goal is to have 500 thousand IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008. The company will provide VDSL in 13 additional cities and have ADSL-2+ in about 1,000 cities by the end of 2008 in order to support its IPTV service.

It looks like Deutsche Telekom now has its IPTV service on track. It should be able to achieve its goal of half a million IPTV subscribers in 2008. To be successful it must be sure that the price of its IPTV service is within the willingness to pay level in Germany.

Deutsche Telekom Reaches 100K IPTV Subscribers

Deutsche Telekom has been reported to have 100 thousand IPTV subscriber. This appears to be up 75 thousand from the beginning of 2007.

This is a reasonable increase for the first year of service. This install rate will have to increase significantly in 2008 for the company to build its IPTV business.

Quative IPTV SDP Interview

Deutsche Telekom is starting a pilot Dual Play TV service that will provide interactive TV, digital terrestrial broadcast TV, and on demand TV delivered over the Internet. This pilot will use an ADB hybrid set-top box and the Quative IPTV Service Delivery Platform (SDP). The following link will take you to German language website for this pilot service.

I spoke with Sebastian Kramer, Quative's CEO. He was formerly head of Alcatel's OMP IPTV middleware project, so he has extensive experience in the IPTV industry. Quative is a subsidiary of the Kudelski group, which also owns IPTV and digital TV content security, Nagravision.

Sebastian said that the Deutsche Telekom Dual Play TV service is separate from the company's T-Home IPTV service that is based on Microsoft's software platform. The Quative SDP was used to build a middleware system that integrates the Internet delivered on demand content with the over the air digital terrestrial service. He said that it offers a superior electronic program guide that includes both services.

He believes that Quative's SDP approach will facilitate B-to-B partnerships that will permit companies to reach consumers through their TVs. He cited an example where BMW might be able to address the 10 percent of the market that is likely to buy its products. BMW would be able to offer videos that feature is autos as well as interactive features such as configurators for each of its models.

Sebastian settled on an SDP approach to middleware because he found at Alcatel that most sales turned what was supposed to be a standard product into a project. Service providers wanted a level of competition that required a significant amount of unique development. He concluded from this experience that an SDP architecture that provides the building blocks that the service provider can use to build a custom middleware system would allow Quative to offer a standard product that service providers can use to create the IPTV system that they really want.

He expects that Quative's SDP will be applied in a variety of hybrid scenarios that include digital terrestrial and IPTV, satellite and IPTV, as well as even cable and IPTV. He also expects that Quative's systems will be used by pure TelcoTV services.

Sebastian and Quative have a smart strategy. They have learned from long experience as an IPTV subscriber. It is likely that they will be successful with Tier 2 and Tier 3 carriers along with hybrid applications. These emerging hybrid services are likely to become Quative's most interesting market.

Deutsche Telekom Cuts Prices

Deutsche Telekom has renamed its IPTV packages and begun a new marketing campaign, based around features such as time-shift TV and content such as soccer, and dropped its triple play (voice, broadband, and TV) entry level price by around 25 percent from the previous €81.26.

Its IPTV customers can now get an entry level service, called Entertain Comfort (formerly T-Home Complete Basic), for €59.95. This includes 70 TV channels, access to additional pay TV channels and on demand content, high-speed DSL access, and unlimited fixed line voice calls within Germany.

The Entertain Comfort Plus (formerly T-Home Complete Plus), includes about 30 more TV channels, two soccer games each weekend, a listings magazine, and free access to the carrier's 8,600 public WLAN access points. It costs €74.95.

The European market is quite price sensitive and Deutsche Telekom's prices are still twice the price that a similar triple play service is offered for in France. In the long run, it may have to include basic TV channels in its broadband data service as is done in France and Sweden.

Deutsche Telekom is Mum on IPTV Subscribers

Deutsche Telekom announced its first half results today but did not disclose any information on the success of its IPTV service. It did state that it plans to equip 50 cities with VDSL
and connect them to its IPTV platform by 2008. This year it will also offer IPTV and triple play services over on ADSL-2+ in a total of 750 cities. This will allow around 17 million households to use these services.

Most European telcos with IPTV services are disclosing subscriber numbers. I wonder if this means that its results are not strong. If they were, I think the company would want to talk about it.

Deutsche Telekom IPTV Subscribers

I just heard from a reliable source that Deutsche Telekom had 25,000 IPTV subscribers at the end of 2006. About 15,000 of these were served off of Siemens VDSL systems and 10,000 were served off of ECI VDSL Systems.

This means that Deutsche Telekom made good progress with its IPTV service in the fourth quarter of 2006. This is a running rate going into 2007 that will put its objective of 100 to 200 thousand IPTV subscribers by the end of the year within reach.

This is also good news for Microsoft. If DT maintains this rate, it will be the poster child for the Microsoft IPTV Edition Software.

Deutsche Telekom's Aggressive Plans

In its 2006 results presentation, Deutsche Telekom put strong emphasis on its IPTV plans. At the end of 2006 it had introduced IPTV service in 10 cities using VDSL technology. In 2007, it plans to offer IPTV using ADSL-2+ in 750 cities and to extend its VDSL coverage to 50 cities by the end of 2008. It expects to offer IPTV to 17 million homes by the end of 2007, which will increase its market coverage from 16 percent today to 44 percent. It plans to start a market push for its ADSL-2+ IPTV service in the second half of 2007.

Its IPTV offering will include access to digital terrestrial DVB-T channels, to 150 broadcast channels, to the all important Bundesliga football matches, and to 1,200 movies on demand. It will also provide HDTV services and interactive TV services in 2007.

Deutsche Telekom expects to have between 100 and 200 thousand IPTV subscribers by the end of 2007 and 1.5 million subscribers in 2010.

You can find the presentation at http://www.deutschetelekom.com/dtag/cms/content/dt/en/212058.


Deutsche Telekom has laid out an aggressive program. Our primary concern is if the Microsoft software is robust enough to support it. The AT&T Microsoft deployment has certainly not proved the Microsoft us put to the task as yet. Deutsche Telekom and AT&T are the two service providers to watch to measure Microsoft's ability to support large IPTV deployments.

Broadband Regulatory Battle in Germany

A law is going into effect in Germany that will eliminate any requirement for Deutsche Telekom to offer unbndled access to its new VDSL network. Deutsche Telekom has stated that it would stop deploying VDSL if it had to provide unbundled access to its VDSL network, at least in the short run.

This new law in Germany goes against European Union (EU) rullings. The EU is promising to fight it unless it is brought into line with EU policy.

This is a huge issue in Europe right now. Germany is taking the lead in fighting the EU. Telefonica in Spain has stated that it will not invest in broadband if it has to provide unbundled access. Oh the other hand, the regulators in Italy and France have accepted the EU approach. Telecom Italia is splitting apart to conform with the requirements of the regulator in Italy. In France, an aggressive unbundling policy has created a very active competitive market with some of the best consumer broadband deals globally.