Multiplay Service Packages Gain Ground in North America and Europe, Pyramid Research Finds

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts - More than half of North American households subscribe to multiplay bundles of telecom and media services, making North America the most penetrated region in the world for multiplay subscriptions, according to the recently released Multiplay Services Forecast from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Based on rigorous and time-tested research methodology and data modeling, Pyramid Research’s Forecasts stand as the communications industry’s most reliable and robust forecasting tools. Each Forecast Service delivers five-year projections for key operational and performance indicators, market share metrics, and service demand tracking at both the operator and country levels. Click here: www.pyr.com/fcst.htm to learn more about the Multiplay Services Forecasts and Media Forecasts mentioned in this press release. Download free forecast templates here: www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=2&sc=PR061809_FCMUL

More than 60 percent of Canadian households were subscribed to a multiplay bundle at year-end 2008, in comparison to 51 percent in the U.S. Multiplay service bundles have been fairly sweeping, shattering traditional service lines and compelling players with gaps in their portfolios to scramble to offer their own bundles, notes Ozgur Aytar, Senior Research Manager at Pyramid Research. Western Europe follows North America’s lead with a multiplay household penetration rate of about 40 percent, although some of the countries in the region, such as the Netherlands and France, are experiencing rates markedly higher than the regional average. “Service bundling has gained popularity in recent years because it helps to slow subscriber churn and allows a service provider to drive revenue through market share gains and increases in average revenue per customer,” says Aytar.

“The uptake of multiplay bundles in the U.S. experienced a major slump in the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the weakening consumer spending levels, but it appears to have recovered in the first half of 2009, largely because of the price declines of 10 to 15 percent for double- and triple-play packages and a more flexible approach to service bundling,” says Aytar. “Canadian service providers, for instance, have generally let their customers build their bundles from a list of available services in a given region, while U.S. operators are becoming less stringent about pushing their core services in bundles,” explains Aytar.

Pyramid Research predicts the availability of more services for bundling will drive uptake of triple-play packages, which have so far enjoyed higher adoption rates in Western Europe than elsewhere, accounting for more than a third of the region’s multiplay households. “The intensely competitive environment has paved the way for very compelling triple-play offerings and promotions in Western Europe,” says Aytar. Triple-play packages have also strengthened the case for IPTV in the region, which according to the first-quarter update of Pyramid Research’s Media Forecasts should have as many as 13.8 million IPTV accounts by year-end 2009, and will remain the largest IPTV market.

About the Forecasts:

Multiplay Services Forecasts provide demand and revenue data and projections at the operator level for bundled and blended services, including voice, broadband, pay-TV, mobile voice, mobile broadband, and fixed-mobile convergence service. Updated twice a year, the Multiplay Services Forecasts enable clients to track the current performance of multi-play bundles across key markets and prepare for upcoming opportunities and competitive threats for 23 countries and across all regions of the world. Media Forecasts are designed to provide competitive intelligence on the pay-TV and mobile TV dynamics for 52 countries, as well as regionally and globally. Updated quarterly, the Media Forecasts track demands patterns for free- and pay-TV services over terrestrial, satellite, and mobile platforms worldwide, providing market share information at both the technology and operator levels. Download free forecast templates here: www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=2&sc=PR061809_FCMUL

Pyramid Research’s Forecasts are available as one-off purchases or annual subscriptions. For pricing information, please contact Amalia Vega at avega@pyr.com.

For more information about Pyramid Research’s products and services, please visit www.pyr.com or contact us at info@pyr.com.

About Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries — a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry’s most comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology analysis.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the US$3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading’s research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than US$2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM’s businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities — from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists — with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

CONTACT: Jennifer Baker +1-617-871-1910 jbaker@pyr.com

Source: Pyramid Research

Jennifer Baker, Pyramid Research, +1-617-871-1910, jbaker at pyr.com