Quad-Play Providers Bet On Integrated Services To Sell Bundles

The big US telcos, cable companies and so on have been edging into each others’ turf for a while now, and the latest plan is to offer “quad play” services — television, broadband Internet and home phone service along with mobile phone services. The San Francisco Chronicle has a good article on the concept, with some people arguing that customers will be attracted by the simplicity of a single bill and a cheaper combined price, the quad-play providers betting on customers being attracted to “an integrated, seamless experience for users wherever they go with their cell phones”, and others arguing the whole concept is going to put off some customers.

They’re likely all correct — different customers will be attracted or put off for different reasons. I think the providers have the right idea in providing an integrated service because it offers a real benefit to consumers, but more importantly may allow the companies to keep their margins rather than competing on price. At the moment the planned “integrated services” are things like programming a DVR from the mobile handset, or watching content that you’ve recorded on your phone, or free calls between the different phones on the bill. It’s fairly simple services at the moment, but if the initiative is there we could see some very good moves in the space.

Comments have been disabled for this post