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My Way, an IPTV venture of
Smart Digivision
has launched its
services in 54 cities in collaboration with MTNL and
BSNL. This is the largest IPTV service provider in the
country. Their slogan "Entertainment Jab Chaaho, Jo
Chaaho", explains it all. Cable Quest Spoke to the COO
Mr. Kapil Dev Kumar to find why My Way is so different.
Here are the excerpts.
Q1 How is the consumer reacting to MyWay IPTV? How can
the penetration be made better in comparison to DTH or
Cable?
KDK : The response of customers, who are
currently using MyWay IPTV service or have witnessed the
service when promoted
through BTL activities, was overwhelming in itself. We
would like to quote few of the experiences shared on
ground;
The customer found MyWay as a “Refreshing Change” when
it comes to TV entertainment.
• One of the residents of an RWA in Gurgaon complimented
“I could not believe that my TV could become a personal
DVD library” after experiencing the On-Demand feature
where he could play, rewind, forward
and pause the movie
at his own time and convenience.
• One of MyWay existing customers also mentioned “I love
watching every day, one episode of Mahabharata on MyWay
IPTV” after experiencing TV shows on On Demand feature
on MyWay.
• At one of the events where we showcased SMS, Railway
info and Email (Gmail, MyWay mail etc) most of the
viewers agreed that “MyWay IPTV is a Revolution in
Entertainment and an innovative consumer service”
• MyWay IPTV “has made life simpler” with it's Language
filter and My Favourite setting option, which can
enhance TV viewing experience.
Other features like; Karaoke, Games, Learning
(interactive), SMS have made MyWay IPTV an innovative,
smart option to choose from.
To increase the penetration of MyWay IPTV we require to
spread the word that is to “Educate the Customers” about
the IPTV technology and its boundless capabilities.
The initiatives undertaken by
MyWay IPTV are:-
• BTL activities like road shows, direct mailer and even
online ads have been initiated to give a personal
experience
to the customers about the MyWay offering. We have been
sending MyWay Branded envelopes to BSNL & MTNL customers
on monthly basis.
• My Way has also launched its first ATLcampaign where
it clearly states “Its time for DTH to Retire”. This
campaign established two clear propositions in the
mind of the consumer. Firstly, today customer
understands that TV entertainment is catered by Cable
(analog) and DTH offering.. But however, DTH is not
alone in its offering over cable and now this space
would be dominated by MyWay IPTV which is driven through
choice control and value.
Secondly, with the endless possibilities that MyWay
brings to a customer as a revolution in TV segment, the
DTH is already on its way out. Moreover MyWay IPTV is
brought to you in association with BSNL & MTNL across 54
cities, giving it the largest coverage footprint for
IPTV services.
Q2 How is MyWay IPTV better
than DTH or Cable?
KDK : When DTH entered the Indian market, its
sole value proposition to the Indian consumers was to
offer better quality picture and sound, which Cable TV
could not cater. But by and large, the product offering
by DTH offers only digital viewing of broadcast
channels, even though they are trying to introduce the
concept of movies on demand which works again in the
form of broadcast, limiting on to fixed time schedules
and interactivity. But the moot question for the
customer still remains “Does DTH offers truly
interactive service driven through customer's
choice” The key features on the last page differentiate
MyWay IPTV offering over DTH. And what MyWay offers and
what DTH can “Never offer”
MyWay has also tied up with ICICI bank to develop a
friendly interface for customers to view their bank
accounts, get stock tickers and portfolio tracker and
other useful services on TV itself.
Q3 What are the Problems
on-ground faced by MyWay IPTV (in terms of network or
content acquisition) and what are the solutions to such
problems?
KDK : Thanks to the TRAI Regulations,
broadcast content acquisition has come at par with DTH.
Though there are some resistance to effective
implementation of TRAI guidance, we believe it is a
passing phenomenon. Except for one large South India
channel bouquet, we have all the channels available on
our platform. On the network side, the challenges are on
expected lines: -
• Customers expect a very high uptime for TV service far
higher than that for Broadband or Telephone connection.
We are jointly making efforts with BSNL/ MTNL to enhance
the monitoring of the network and network elements.
• Further, given that the channel stream is a continuous
unabated stream of content with no scope of catching up
(as in Internet content), fibre network quality needs to
support this requirement. Here too, we are closely
working with BSNL/ MTNL to make the network more robust
for continuous stream content. |
