Telecom Italia Added 36K IPTV Subscribers in 1Q09

Telecom Italia added 36,000 IPTV subscribers in 1Q09 giving it a total of 365,000 at the end of the quarter.

The pace of its IPTV subscriber additions slowed significantly from the rate that it achieved in 4Q08.

Telecom Itallia Adds 111K IPTV Subscribers in 4Q08

Telecom Italia added 111,000 IPTV subscribers in 4Q08, giving a total of 329,000 at the end of 2008. It was able to achieve its objective of 300,000 IPTV subscribers at the end of 2008. Its IPTV service has now achieved a penetration of 4.9 percent of its broadband customers.

Telecom had a great fourth quarter. Let's see if it can keep up the pace.

Tiscali IPTV Fails in Italy

The Italian ISP Tiscali will cease its Tiscali TV IPTV service at the end of 2008. No reason was given for the termination of the service. Tiscali TV was launched in mid-2007 and has so far attracted about 50,000 subscribers. It was the third entrant into the IPTV business following Fastweb TV and Telecom Italy. Initially only available in Cagliari, Roma and Milan, the service was subsequently also rolled out in Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Naples, Palermo and Turin. There were also plans to take it national. Tiscali TV offered a number of personalised TV services but failed to contract programming from Sky Italia.

Success with IPTV is clearly not easy. This shows the importance of content. It is not possible to succeed in Italy without Sky Italia content.

Telecom Italia Projects 1.5M IPTV Subscribers in 2011

In its update to its strategic plan for 2009-2011 Telecom Italia stated that its goal is to increase its IPTV subscribers to 1.5 million by the end of 2011. The company had 218,000 IPTV subscribers at the end of 3Q08 and plans to have 300,000 IPTV subscribers at the end of 2008.

The goal of 1.5 million IPTV subscribers by the end of 2011 is attainable with an aggressive offering. However, the company is struggling to meet its 2008 target and has not yet shown that it has found how to generate significant growth in its IPTV service.

Telecom Itallia Adds 38K IPTV Subscribers in 3Q08

Telecom Italia ended 3Q08 with 218,000 IPTV subscribers, an increase of 38,000 in the quarter. It is continuing to say that it will have 300,000 IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008.

Telecom Italia will have to double the quarterly rate of adding IPTV subscribers that it has achieved across the first three quarters of 2008 in order to achieve its goal of 300,000 IPTV subscribers by the end of the year. This is a tall order.

Telecom Italia adds 44K IPTV Subscribers in 2Q08

Telecom Italia had 180 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 2Q08, and increase of 44 thousand in the quarter and in increase of 100 thousand in 1H08. It is maintaining its target of 300 thousand IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008.

The company added 337 thousand broadband subscribers in 1H08 giving a total of 1.653 million at the end of the half. It did not announce any IPTV numbers for its Hansenet subsidiary in Germany.

Telecom Italia is continuing to add IPTV subscribers. Its rate of increase is low considering the number of its broadband subscribers and the lack of cable in Italy. I believe that it is still number two in IPTV in Italy to FastWeb.

Its goal of 300 thousand IPTV subscribers in 2008 appears possible but will require it to accelerate its sales rate.

FastWeb Adds 60K Broadband Subscribers in 2Q08

FastWeb, the competitive carrier in Italy, added 60 thousand broadband subscribers in 2Q08 (135 thousand in 1H08) giving it a total of 1.398 million subscribers. It had no comments on the number of IPTV subscribers that it serves.

The company plans to offer a 100 Mbps fiber offer to small and medium enterprises in 4Q08 at a premium price, and will extend this to the SOHO and residential market after the end of this year. This is an upgrade from its current 10 Mbps service. It expects this higher speed service to lower churn and stabilize ARPUs.

FastWeb stated that its fiber service passes 2 million homes in Milan, Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Roma, Naples, and Bari. It stated that this is higher coverage than any other European country. Fastweb's 243 thousand fiber subscribers is nearly 25 percent of all of the fiber subscribers in Europe.

FastWeb will introduce mobile services in Italy in September 2008. It will focus selling the service to its current customers in October and launch it to the business market in 4Q08. It is currently evaluating a mobile offering to its executive customer base.

As usual I interpret the lack of an announcement of IPTV subscribers to indicate that there was no significant increase during the quarter.

FastWeb and Telecom Italia to Cooperate on Fiber

Telecom Italia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to share fiber infrastructure in Italy and to cooperate as follows:

• Joint planning of the civil infrastructure for fiber networks
• The reciprocal exchange of rights to use civil infrastructure
• Joint study and testing of new techniques in civil infrastructure such as latest generation micro-tubing for laying fiber

As part of this MOU the two companies settled a number legal and regulatory issues between the two companies, including:

• Fastweb's claim against Telecom Italia's alleged unfair practices in the business customer segment
• Disputes relating to Fastweb's fixed line tariffs and to those applied by Telecom Italia on the mobile network
• Telecom Italia's contesting Fastweb's adjudication of the tender to supply telephone services to public governments in Italy
• Reconciliation of a number of account items under dispute between the two companies

This agreement shows a path forward that may be followed in other companies with strong telecom competitors. FTTH is a very expensive proposition and both incumbents and competitors will be well served by cooperating in the deployment of fiber infrastructure.

Tiscali to Expand IPTV Footprint in Italy

Tiscali announced that its IPTV service is now available in nine citiees in Italy. It just added six cities (Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Naples, Palermo and Turin) in addition to the three cities that it launched in December 2007 (Cagliari, Milan and Rome). It can provide IPTV service to 4 million lines today and plans to be able to provide it to 9 million lines by the end of 2008.

Tiscali's IPTV service includes 48 hour time shifting, video on demand, and HD programming. It has content agreements with Disney and Sony.

Tiscali has not announced the number of IPTV subscribers that it serves either in Italy or in France. As usual, I assume that this is because the numbers are nothing to brag about.

Telecom Italia has 136K IPTV Subscribers

Telecom Italia ended 1Q08 with 136 thousand IPTV subscribers, an increase of 56 thousand in the quarter. It has set a target do have 300 thousand IPTV subscribers by the end of 2008.

Telecom Italia did not announce the number of IPTV subscribes at its Hansenet subsidiary in Germany.

Telecom Italia made modest progress in IPTV. Its goal of 300 thousand subscribers for 2008 is not that large and should be achievable.

Fastweb adds 31.4K IPTV Subscribers in 1Q08

Fastweb added 31.4 thousand IPTV subscribers in 1Q08, which is an increase of 77 percent over the 17.7 thousand IPTV subscribers that it added in 1Q07. It did not announce its total number of IPTV subscribers.

Fastweb credits its increased sales in 4Q07 and 1Q08 to its introduction of a TV only service that does not require a broadband data or VoIP service. It has found that the churn rate of its IPTV subscribers is 24 percent lower than its overall customer base.

Fastweb seems to have breathed new life into its IPTV service with its single play IPTV service.

Telecom Italia Rejects Microsoft Mediaroom

Apparently Telecom Italia made a decision not to use the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV software system that it had been testing its its labs for the last several years. The reports are that Telefonica preferred that that Telecom Italia use the MyView middleware software that it developed. Alcatel-Lucent took over the development and marketing of this package in 2006.

Telecom Italia has been using Alcatel-Lucent's OMP system since its IPTV service was introduced.

While this is a significant blow, Microsoft still has a large number of tier 1 service providers using its Mediaroom software. This loss does not threaten the eventual market dominance that we projected for Microsoft in our report Global Opportunities in Wireline Broadband Networks.

It is clear that Telecom Italia will need to move from OMP to another middleware package. Moving to My View will at least keep it within the Alcatel-Lucent orbit.

Telecom Italia Misses 2007 IPTV targets

Telecom Italia ended 2007 with 80 thousand IPTV subscribers, which was well below its target of 200 thousand for the year. It stated that this shortfall was "due to slight delay on IPTV stabilization". It did end 2007 by adding 30 thousand IPTV subscribers in December.

Telecom Italia's current target is to end 2008 with 300 thousand IPTV subscribers.

Telecom Italia got off to a slow start with its IPTV service. It appears to me that it has had difficulty in managing its IPTV network. It currently uses Alcatel-Lucent's OMP IPTV middleware software, which is a well proved package. It is unlikely that this middleware is the source of its problems.

Fastweb adds 100K IPTV Subscribers in 2007

Fastweb announced that its Gross Sales of its IPTV were 99.9 thousand new subscribers, which is a 10 percent increase over the 91 thousand new subscribers that it added in 2006. It added 43.7 thousand of these new subscribers in 4Q07, which is 73 percent up from 4Q06.

Fastweb credits the increase in IPTV sales in 4Q07 to the introduction of a TV only option in September 2006. The company stated that the churn rate of its IPTV service is 4 percent lower than its overall customer base. It also stated that its IPTV service provides upsell opportunities and helps to stabilize ARPU and improves customer retention.

I have asked Fastweb to clarify these numbers. In particular, I have request its total number of IPTV subscribers. It appears that my own estimates are fairly far off the mark right now. I will post any additional information that it sends me.

Tiscali Launches IPTV in Italy

Tiscali has launched Tiscali TV in Caligari, Milan, and Rome. The service will be offered over all of Italy in 2008 and will be offered for free until the end of March, 2008. Tiscali TV offers 50 TV broadcast channels and supports both HD and video on demand content. It also offers an NPVR service that makes all broadcast programs available for 48 hours after their original broadcast. The service also gives the users the ability to create a personalized electronic program guide.

IPTV is offered by FastWeb, Telecom Italia, and Wind in Italy. Tiscali needs an IPTV offering in this market to remain competitive.

Wind Introduces IPTV in Italy

Italliand competitive carrier, Wind Telecommunications the launched an IPTV service that is largely basein on broadcast channels from Sky Italia. This new service is called Infostrada TV. It includes free to air digital terrestrial channels and a package of international channels for a monthly fee of 7 euros. Service activation costs 99 euros and is now at a promotional price of 49.50 euros and a set-top box with a PVR and 100 hours of recording time.

Wind will also offer the premium services Sky Italia with various options starting at 36 euros per month for a combination of basic, cinema, or sport channels and is now being offered with promotionpromotional price of 15 euros until the end of February 2008. Wind joins Telecom Italia (Alice TV) and Fastweb. with IPTV offering in Italy.

This is another example of how IPTV is becoming a basic requirement for broadband services in Europe. Wind appears competitive with Telecom Italia but has to do more work to catch up with FastWeb's well developed service.

FastWeb to Offer Disney Content On Demand

FastWeb in Italy will start offering Disney content on demand targeting teens, tweens and preschoolers. The Disney Channel On Demand offer will include live action series such as Hannah Montana, the sitcom Quelli dell’intervallo, animated programs such as Kim Possible and American Dragon, and Disney Channel Original Movies such as High School Musical 2 in its Dance Along version. For younger viewers, Disney Channel On Demand will offer a range of series for preschoolers, such as the newly launched Disney My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Handy Manny.

FastWeb is a real IPTV pioneer on a global basis. This is a good addition to its on demand service. Children's programming is a popular segment of an on demand service.

Telecom Italia France Has 80K IPTV Subscribers

Telecom Italia reported that its broadband subsidiary in France had more than 80 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 3Q07. It did not report IPTV subscriber numbers for its domestic IPTV service in Italy or in its Hansenet broadband subsidiary in Germany.

Telecom Italia is doing well with IPTV in France where IPTV is a standard and popular broadband option. I think that if the results were strong in Italy or Germany, it would have reported them.

FastWeb Reemphasizing IPTV

FastWeb, the Swisscom competitive telecom subsidiary in Italy, put renewed emphasis on its IPTV offering in its 3Q07 presentation. In September it reduced from 15 to 6 residential offerings. These packages bring its pricing in line with or below Telecom Italia. With this new offering, 88 percent of its new subscribers added in 3Q07 were signed in September. It stated that October is continuing strongly.

FastWeb believes that their are clear opportunities for IPTV in Italy because there is no cable there and limited satellite and digital terrestrial penetration. The company expects that IPTV will become the single most important differentiating factor in the fixed market.

FastWeb points to its seven years experience offering IPTV services as a significant advantage. It believes that has the best prices in Italy. It found that the take up of IPTV increased in September to 25 percent vs. 20 percent average in the previous 12 months.

FastWeb added 56 thousand broadband subscribers in 3Q07, giving it a total of 1.251 million. It stated that 82 percent of these were residential subscribers. It stated that it experienced significant pressure from a Telecom Italia win back campaign.

I estimate that it added 10 thousand IPTV subscribers in 3Q07. This rate should increase significantly based on the emphasis that it is now putting on IPTV.

This is a significant change for FastWeb. It has been emphasizing its enterprise business in its presentations for the last couple of years. It had just completed a national fiber network that enabled it to compete in the enterprise market.

It looks like Telecom Italia has become very competitive on the broadband market and caused FastWeb to go back and put new focus on the market that established it in the first place.

Telecom Italia Confirms Microsoft Commitment

Telecom Italia did not make an announcement about its number of IPTV subscribers in Italy. It did say that it has 10 thousand IPTV subscribers at its Hansenet subsidiary in Germany and 59 thousand at its Telecom Italia subsidiary in France. It did say that it expects to have 1.5 million IPTV subscribers in Italy in 2012.

it stated that it is developing new content based services with Microsoft including Time-Shift TV Personal Video Recording using a set-top box with a hard disk, and Multi-User services. Its set-top boxes will be capable of supporting HD content.

It appears that the service providers that are pleased with their IPTV subscriber numbers are announcing. My impression is that Telecom Italia is not attracting a large number of subscribers with its service.