Quadruple-Play Bundling Strategies

Multi-play packages have established themselves as important marketing tools in the residential telecoms markets of the USA, Europe and Asia. These packages allow service providers to offer discounts and other benefits that attract customers, leading to increased market share and reduced churn, while helping to protect against incursions from new competitors.

Triple-play packages, including either fixed telephony, mobile telephony and broadband or fixed telephony, TV and broadband, are available in a number of markets. Quadruple plays, which combine all four elements (fixed telephony, mobile telephony, broadband and TV), are still relatively rare outside the USA and there is some debate about their value. Respected commentators from the telecoms and media industries have said that there is no point in combining the personal mobile service with the household TV subscription. Nonetheless, there are quadruple plays on offer in at least a dozen markets and all residential telecoms and media companies need to assess the relevance of this strategy to their own market position.

• How successful are existing quadruple-play bundles?
• When is quadruple play appropriate and when is it not?
• Which market segments are the best to target with a quadruple-play offering?
• How can a quadruple-play package be marketed successfully?
• What potential is there for revenue growth in the residential market?
• How can quadruple play be used to generate new revenue?

• Incumbent operators who seek to use broadband and mobile services to drive future revenue growth.
• New entrant fibre network operators who want to make the most of their network capacity and maximise their revenue.
• New entrant broadband operators who hope to take market share from incumbents and other ISPs in the residential market.
• Mobile network operators who aim to promote fixed- mobile substitution and capture the entirety of their customers' telecoms and media spend.
• Cable-TV network operators who want to build on their inherent ability to offer triple play, by adding the mobile component.
• Satellite-TV operators who want to add more interactivity to their services and strengthen their market position.
• Residential telecoms equipment vendors who need to know what features their equipment will be expected to offer in the future.
• Telecoms CRM providers who will be called upon to support quadruple plays with the software capabilities needed to integrate customer management and service provision.
• Financial institutions who are being asked to finance new network roll-outs in the telecoms and media sectors.