Anytime, anywhere: Telstra boosts entertainment offerings as mobile video traffic surges
Telstra has announced changes to its mobile entertainment packages in response to what it says is surging demand for mobile subscription video on demand (SVoD) services.
From 23 August Telstra will include a three-month subscription to all three leading streaming video providers (Netflix, Stan and Presto) on selected mobile plans and will offer free access to Apple Music.
It will also launch a new app that makes it easier to find sports and entertainment content included in Telstra mobile plans.
Announcing the offerings, Telstra Executive Director Media, Michele Garra pointed to recent data showing the rapidly growing appetite for mobile video, especially sports.
Garra said that during the Rio Olympics, live viewing of the US vs Australia men’s basketball match accounted for 25% of all mobile network traffic, closely followed by the men’s 100 metre final (24% of traffic).
Even without the Olympics though, mobile video streaming is producing new traffic patterns. Telstra says its recent research shows that mobile video streaming is growing at more than 30% a year and that new prime time periods are emerging, with traffic surges during the morning and evening commute.
Such growth is of course putting strains on carrier networks and recent outages on both Telstra and Optus networks have raised the question as to whether carriers are keeping up with the investment challenge. Still, Telstra remains well positioned to ride these new technological waves, thanks in no small measure to the first mover advantage it has enjoyed since its blitzkrieg 3G roll-out under Sol Trujillo in2006.
At that time, Trujillo said the future lay in
… a network and a set of services that are available wherever a customer lives, works, plays, wherever they go. A network that interfaces with any device, for virtually any service whether it be voice, data or video. It is seamless and can move across many different environments.
That future is fast arriving.
