Orange has launched several TV and video on demand services on connected consumer electronics devices like LG, Samsung, and Xbox over the past few years as a second screen strategy. However, Orange has faced challenges working with CE manufacturers including technical regressions after firmware upgrades, lack of visibility into firmware release notes and device configurations, and more difficult customer support without control over the device ecosystem. The key challenges going forward include navigating the technical fragmentation between telcos and CE partners and improving the mismatch between the development cycles of online services and CE device platforms.

1. OTT TV services on CE devices:
feedback from the field
Erwan Nédellec – Orange, November 2013

2. 2
What is
Orange?

3. 3
Locally, it’s the national color, but…
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Source: http://wanna-form-a-congo-line.blogspot.fr
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Source: http://www.rnw.nl

4. 4
It’s also a major worldwide telco
 231 million customers worldwide
 €43.5 billion revenue, and
€3.4 billion net profit (2012)
 168 000 employees
– 103,000 in France
 7 000 sales points
 450 000 km of submarine cables
– enough to circumnavigate the earth
10 times!
 IPTV launched in France 10 years ago
– 5.5 million IPTV / satellite customers
in Orange countries

5. 5
Which
services
have we
launched on
CE devices?

6. 6
Orange services have been launched on connected CE
devices for several years
 Infotainment services are available on
– LG (March 2010 in France,
August 2011 in Poland)
– Samsung (November 2011)
 Our live TV channels are available on
– XBOX 360 (April 2012)
– Samsung Smart TV (February 2013)
– LG Smart TV (July 2013)
 Our VOD service is available on
– XBOX 360 (April 2013),
– Samsung Smart TV (July 2013)
 And more devices to come…
 The strategy is to target second
screens at this stage
– The STB is still the preferred device in
the living room
Smart TV Orange portal in 2010
Orange VOD on XBOX 360

7. 7
Our experience is positive in many ways
 Innovative devices
 Good relationship with the partners
 Constructive exchanges
 Co-marketing opportunities
 But we have also identified several
topics that we must improve together
WebTV linear channels on SmartTV
WebTV linear channels on XBOX 360

8. 8
What have
we learnt?

9. 9
We come from the same planetary system, but not
from the same planet
Their goal is to keep
their STB in the field
as long as they can
Their goal is to sell
as many TV sets as
they can
Telcos
CE
manufacturers

10. 10
A typical year for a TV set manufacturer
Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.
Engineers are
developing
next year’s platform
Qualification
of the new
platform
New year
model on
the market
Engineers are
switching to
next year’s platform

11. 11
A typical year for a TV set manufacturer, and the
impacts for their partners…
Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.
Engineers are
developing
next year platform
Qualification
of the new
platform
New year
model on
the market
Engineers are
switching on the
next year platform
Visibility
given on next
year’s model.
Good
support,
but very
hard to get
samples
Not always
possible to
certify a
service as
QA team is
qualifying
new year’s
models
Good
support,
products are
available. But
it is no longer
possible to
set up co-
marketing
activities on
previous year
model
Less support
on previous
year’s model
(which
means
models sold
until May)

12. 12
Our biggest fear is regression
 We have faced regression with all our partners
 Examples (not the complete list):
– Regression with persistent PlayReady license
– Regression due to heuristic changes in Smooth Streaming player
– Regression in rendering Live streams in Smooth Streaming
– Regression in dealing with the same origin policy for XHR requests
– Etc…
 Regressions are unfortunately unavoidable, but:
– It is more complex to identify regressions for a CE manufacturer with
100+ partners, due to the distance from Korea or US, than for a telco
with its end-to-end controlled solution in its premises
– So, regressions are identified too late (after a firmware upgrade in some
cases), and the probability of facing regressions is higher on CE
devices than on a STB

13. 13
And when a regression occurs, the following questions
come up straight away
1
2
3
Are we the only partner impacted ?
Is the firmware already rolled-out ?
Was it the latest firmware for that device ?
Yes
Yes
Yes
+
+
Very
bad news

14. 14
Firmware management is the second hot topic
 As we do not control the device, we have
no control on
– the features included in the firmware
– when the firmware will be rolled out
– which kind of firmware will be rolled out
(mandatory or optional update)
 Firmwares do not always behave the same
way (differences between mid-range and
high-end models within the same line-up)
 We lack visibility on the scope of the
firmware
– In almost all cases, there is no release
note available for partners

15. 15
Nobody controls the retailers (especially whose are
doing e-commerce)
Source: http://www.amazon.fr/
Let’s assume
For (at least)
Romanian market
For (at least)
French market
For (at least)
Belgium market
When a device is not for your domestic market,
1 – your customers may not be able to select
your local language, and your country. As a
consequence, your service may be not available
2 – the characteristics of the device may differ a lot
(ex: BD-E6100/ZF supports Smooth Streaming,
but BD-E6100/EN does not)

16. 16
And last, but not least, the support is more complex
 Today, we have representative
configurations of households in
our premises (STB + gateway)
– This is a really useful means
of reproducing customers
issues
 When we rely on CE devices,
this is not possible
– Between 2 and 4 different
platforms by manufacturer
each year
– In some cases, there are
several different firmware
releases in the field for a
same device
 It is very hard for hotlines and
technicians to help our
customers

17. 17
What are
the next key
challenges?

18. 18
Our ecosystem is not a long quiet river
 Yes, STB represents an important part of
the CAPEX for a telco, but relying on CE
devices induce important cost side effects
as well
 Beyond the technical fragmentation (on both
sides: telcos & CE manufacturers), and the
certification process (a painful experience
with some CE partners), all the operational
aspects must not be underestimated
 My 2 cents comment for my telco colleagues
– It is crucial to use the technologies used by the whole ecosystem, and avoid specific development
(lack of support, risks of regression, risks of having the technology not embed in new platform)
 My 2 cents comment for my CE partners
– There is a mismatch today between the development lifecycle of services, and the development
lifecycle of SmartTV (cf. slide #11). The situation is better in the smart phone world (OS driven),
and in the game console world

19. Thank you