Interactive Television : A Major Wireless Communications Company

Executive Summary

Our Client's bold vision to deliver consumer-focused interactive services through television-is transforming its organization into a leading electronic services business. By creating innovative ways to give consumers what they want, Our Client is opening up new revenue streams for its business and gaining access to an important new market.

Business Challenge

As a major telecommunications services provider, our client enjoys a position in its industry that most organizations would envy. By providing a 100 percent digital fiber-optic network and one telephone line for every two people, the company boasts one of the most advanced network infrastructures anywhere. Like many other telecommunications providers, however, our client experienced the threat of competition as deregulation allowed new players to enter the market. While it remained the sole long-distance provider until January of 1999, its monopoly on mobile and fixed network services disappeared in 1997. The need to maintain its competitive market position has been a fundamental business imperative throughout. In response to growing competition in its traditional markets, our client explored new revenue sources that would leverage its existing network assets. Given that approximately 90 percent of its customers live in high-rise buildings, many of whom spend discretionary income on entertainment and have a history of rapidly adopting new electronic products and services, one area that promised great rewards was interactive services. Using its biggest asset-its digital fiber-optic network-our client had the opportunity to create, and dominate, a new market: interactive television. An Interactive Media Services (IMS) entity was created to deliver the company's new vision.

How Wability Helped

Turning our client's vision into reality required developing iTV from the ground up. Beginning in 2001 and drawing on skills from Wability's Interactive Multimedia Group, we helped the IMS group designing, testing and deploying the iTV project on schedule and on budget.

By adhering to a well-defined set of technology standards-Java, CORBA and ATM-Wability helped manage many of the technical complexities involved in developing interactive television components for the first time. As a result, The IMS created a scalable service infrastructure capable of supporting both small and large services-from corporate training-on-demand for a single department to video-on-demand for millions of subscribers.

Despite the technical complexities involved in creating an interactive television service, the greatest challenges were often related to managing and coordinating this multifaceted engagement. For example, professionals located in over 5 different locations in Europe, the United States, and Asia worked on more than a three closely coupled projects at the same time. Additionally, team members had to work with 6 discrete vendors whose products had not been previously integrated. Wability's track record in managing large engagements proved an essential ingredient in IMS's commitment to use the firm's expertise on a global scale. In fact, for us, delivering on Our Client expectations in this environment meant forming teams of professionals on three continents so that work could continue around the clock. In February 2001, our client launched iTV. Using a television, a broadband network connection, and a set-top box, consumers can access a wide range of multimedia entertainment and information services-including movies, music, home banking, home shopping, educational classes, games, and even horse racing-"on demand" in the convenience of their own homes. iTV also gives consumers concurrent, fast internet access. While consumers are busy selecting their next movie or shopping online, a back-end engine makes it possible for IMS to collect information on consumer behavior and create customer profiles. These profiles can be used to deliver incentives, coupons, and loyalty programs on an individual basis.

Value Delivered

iTV is changing the way consumers live, work, and play by giving them access to new products and services-when and how they want them. Through innovative partnerships, for example, iTV allows consumers to register and pay for an interactive masters-in-business-administration course, and then attend lectures and interact with students at the local university via the Internet. Educational offerings, such as foreign language and basic math skills classes, are also available for children. By bringing the classroom to the consumer, educational classes are just one-way iTV is opening new doors-and new opportunities-for people.