Telepocalypse

Free or worthless?

One of the interesting things about n-play bundles in telecom is how they get positioned differently by the players converging on the space. (Remember: “convergence” has only one possible meaning — we’re all heading towards the same customer wallet.)

The other guy’s complementary product often tends to be positioned as the “freebie” with low value. It’s basic economics: make complementary goods cheap, substitute ones expensive. So if you’ve market power in one part of the bundle, this is what you do:

On the other hand, BT is offering the “Freeview” service in its IPTV package (value positioning: low) and focusing on video-on-demand where they feel they have a scale/cost advantage.

PS - Note how Sky aren’t positioning their product based on price, but convenience/personalisation. The logo smacks “advanced technology, familiar uncomplicated Sky experience”. Smart folk, those Murdochs.