Ericsson in talks with Indian telecom carriers on video optimisation technology

Telecom gear maker Ericsson is in talks with Indian telecom carriers for the deployment of video optimisation technologies. The Swedish company has already deployed a suite of similar solutions for Bharti Airtel, India’s No. 1 telecom operator by subscribers, people aware of the development said.

“We consider India as a key mobile video market due to the size and also the mobile broadband video opportunity given by the low fixed broadband penetration,” Nitin Bansal, head of network products at Ericsson India, told ET.

“This not only opens up for high smartphone video opportunities but also fixed wireless opportunities. We are in talks with Indian telcos for the deployment of our video optimisation solution.”

According to Bansal, Indian carriers are increasingly looking at these solutions to address mounting last-mile bandwidth demands, decreasing subscription revenues and rising backhaul transit costs.

Bansal and Airtel declined to comment on the matter.

The Ericsson executive though said high video traffic volumes require efficient network management and cost efficient delivery. Video optimisation is needed to meet high quality of experience demanded by consumers, especially considering the high traffic demands occurring at peaks.

Analysts said the need for such solutions has lately increased due to the dramatic growth in data traffic over high-speed 3G and 4G networks, with video being the main driver, a phenomenon further likely fueled by entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio.

Video optimisation technologies help telcos offer video streaming with lower data usage, leading to better optimisation of spectrum, increased capacity and more headroom to other users. It also leads to savings in investment for operators while enabling them to offer new video offerings, be it own-drive or over-the-top services.

For subscribers, it means better viewing quality with higher speeds and zero buffering, which in turn leads to increased data consumption, helping telcos improve customer stickiness and average revenue per user (ARPU).

In India, data traffic per active smartphone is expected to increase five-fold to 7 GB per month by 2021 from 1.4 GigaByte (GB) per month in 2015, according to the recent Ericsson mobility report. Seventy percent of mobile data would be attributed to video globally by 2021, which makes for a very compelling case for video optimization, the report said.

India will be a key market for hybrid solutions, said Bansal.