The competition between portals in the field of video services is becoming more intense, as the companies have learned that this kind of offer is very popular among users. However, the growth of IP TV might be slowed down due to the fairly low penetration of broadband in the country.
Of the three most popular, in terms of number of users, Polish internet portals, Interia.pl seems to lead the field of multimedia content, as the company offers an online radio with live shows and a number of TV channels. The company has set up its own TV studio where the shows are produced and plans to build another one in Krakow and one in Warsaw. At the moment, the company offers entertainment and news channels and intends to launch new, specialised channels in the near future. The new studios are expected to allow the portal to produce more news shows and to add more formats. Interia.pl is also cooperating with Polsat, a commercial TV station, and offers content provided by the latter on its websites. The Interia.pl’s most prominent competitor, Onet.pl, is going to transform its existing video-on-demand service into Onet TV, as to date the company does not have its own IP TV offer, thus lagging behind both Interia.pl and Wirtualna Polska (wp.pl). Onet.pl, which is the most popular portal in Poland, is part of the ITI media holding, the owner of the TVN television channels group. The content produced by TVN is to be used, among others, by the IP TV service of Onet.pl, which can give the portal a strong advantage in contrast with its competitors.
Future of IP TV: limited live broadcasts As for the forecasts for the future of IP TV services of internet portals, video-on-demand is likely to dominate over live shows. According to Agniszka Kliber of Interia.pl, users like to choose the shows on their own and this will limit the popularity of live content broadcasts. Another factor is the fairly low penetration of broadband in Poland: lack of sufficient transfer speeds will also hamper the growth of live IP TV. TV-on-demand will remain the predominant form of broadcasting video content online for a long time. Portals will produce their own live shows to a limited extent, which will depend on the popularity of particular formats, Ms Kliber told ICT Update Poland.
Internet portals do not seem to be afraid of competition from the mobile TV offers. It is perceived as a complementary technology rather than one that could pose a real threat to the IP TV services. Mobile TV is being expected to use content created by the IP TV divisions of internet portals. On the other hand, portals will be interested in broadcasting their content via the mobile handsets.
IP TV to depend on broadband As a conclusion, it should be noted that IP TV development in Poland is gathering momentum, although there are some factors that may significantly slow it down. Of these, the most important one is the availability of broadband lines. Poland is among the countries with the lowest broadband penetration in the European Union and this fact undoubtedly will have an unfavourable impact on the development of telecommunications services that require higher transfer speeds, including IP TV.
Mateusz Malicki IT & Telecoms Analyst PMR Publications mateusz.malicki@pmrpublications.com
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