High Demand for Broadband Experiences Drives Growth in Asia Pacific Region

Georges Laplanche, Head of Connected Home APAC, Technicolor

• Georges Laplanche, Head of Connected Home in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region explains how Technicolor has achieved 87% growth in first half of 2016
• Young demographic translates into demand for immersive entertainment experiences in APAC
• Cost effective broadband access and well-managed in-home WiFi are critical factors in meeting consumer expectations in APAC region.

The Asia Pacific region has been a sector of dramatic growth and development for Technicolor Connected Home.  In the first half of 2016, the group experience more than 87 percent growth in business. The Future Trust caught up with Georges Laplanche, Head of Connected Home APAC, to hear how Technicolor is serving the region, and why it’s such an important market for achieving our mission-critical objectives.

The market in Asia Pacific is quite diverse with advanced economies that have very mature infrastructures and emerging economies that have a lot of vibrancy, but have less developed infrastructure. How do you see the opportunities for delivering immersive entertainment experiences evolving in the region?

Laplanche: The region is very young: there are lots of millennials around the region. Their appetite for local -- as well as global -- content is huge. Those millennials always find ways to get the content that they want, one way or another.  So we see very very strong demand for entertainment experiences in the region. Consequently, there is a real opportunity for broadband service providers throughout the region to provide access in a seamless way to the entire set of content that young people want, whether that’s on-demand, whether it’s live, whether it’s local, or whether it’s global.

What are the options for deploying the broadband infrastructure as cost-effectively as possible to handle the delivery of broadband-intensive entertainment content and for deploying the platforms inside the home to catch that content and play that content for the household and for individuals?

Laplanche: The gateway, the device accessing the network, accessing the Internet, is the centerpiece of the home, and at Technicolor, we can deliver content in whatever flavor the service provider wants. If it is a greenfield rollout of fiber, we can offer fiber-to-the-home gateways. We can also leverage existing infrastructure. We can leverage copper in those markets where it exists. We can leverage cable with technologies like DOCSIS3.1.

The appetite for broadband that is driving demand towards 10 gigabits per second per household will be across the board. Technicolor offers solutions to enable service providers to access all homes. But beyond the access itself, connectivity within the home is critical: The quality of the Wi-Fi experience, the fact that the Wi-Fi will have to cover the entire home is a very important success factor. Traditionally we were happy with one access point giving access nearby. Now with multiple devices in the home — smart phones, game consoles in different rooms — you need to cover the entire home. So Wi-Fi excellence is going to be critical.

Beyond the gateway, to provide entertainment, we need to deliver content in a way that is faithful to the artist, content that is as close as possible to how it was created. That is something progressive service providers understand.

Our job is not only to provide access and deliver content but also to deliver it with the level of quality that people will enjoy. Its one thing to go to the theater, but you need to have the same theatrical experience at home. Hence, we see a growing appetite for enhanced images, for better delivery of video content that is enabled by technologies such as 4K and HDR. This demand for high quality content drives ARPU and drives more revenue for the operators.

Are you seeing this as being a market trend throughout Asia, one that is being felt in one form or another in the emerging and in the more developed economies?

Laplanche: As always, the emerging economies catch up very fast. Once the underlying economic factors are there, they immediately adopt the latest technologies. We have seen that in India where they migrated direct to HD without going through SD, and now to 4K.

India was the first market where we delivered 4K because of the demand for 4K content to watch major cricket sporting events. Indians are great cricket fans and 4K gives the best experience when you are watching cricket. We have seen across the region demand for high value solutions so people can enjoy the best video experience.

So what is Technicolor doing to support service providers, and to enable consumers to take advantage of these increasingly accessible immersive experiences?

Laplanche: First of all, we are developing solutions locally with three R&D facilities in the region, in India and in China. This provides Technicolor with the kind of time-to-market performance that this region requires.  We are delivering solutions that are tailored to markets that are very cost-sensitive, as well as solutions that are tailored to local language requirements.

While we are in APAC for our APAC customers, we also develop technology for the global market.  At the same time, we are able to apply what we learn from other markets to the benefit of our partners and clients in Asia.