CANBERRA: The video on demand service has been gaining a big audience in Australia. In this connection Netflix, Presto and Stan having all found dance partners for their streaming video services.
Netflix and its telco partners appear to be the early winner with its service resulting in major spikes in data traffic for iiNet, Singtel-Optus and M2 Group. This would theoretically leave Telstra stuck with Presto, the service it partly owns through its 50 per cent stake in Foxtel.
But in reality the sands are still shifting rapidly and Telstra could easily trump its rivals and offer universal access to streaming video on demand – all without signing a single deal direct with Netflix.
Telstra has already shown a willingness to work with content providers that have signed deals with its rivals. Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment’s joint venture Stan may have already done partnered with Vodafone Hutchison Australia but Telstra is in talks to offer it to some customers.
Netflix is a more difficult mountain to climb thanks to a global conflict between it and HBO, which supplies key content to Foxtel. Optus and iiNet are also able to offer unlimited downloads of Netflix services to all its customers thanks to their partnership deals – a sweet deal given how data-intensive high-definition videos can be.
Sources say Telstra’s senior executives are still debating how to handle the rise of Netflix, which spiked among the telco’s consumers despite the lack of free downloads.
But there’s a way Telstra can protect its customer base of three million internet subscribers from being stolen away without ever signing on the dotted line with Netflix.
All telcos are able to see the type of service you’re using at any given time. This means Telstra could offer the same quota-free system for its own customers, slashing the need for users to move away – it already doubled the download allowance for many broadband users days before Netflix’s launch.
When asked whether the telco would consider the move, Telstra Retail’s ebullient group executive, Gordon Ballantyne toned down his answer to simply state, “that’s a possibility, yes.”
“Our goal is to be a content aggregator and offer our customers choice,” he said. “We’ve recently offered Presto and other services will follow.”
Telstra has an advantage in its extensive backhaul network, which was largely built when it was still a government entity. This cuts the price and limits the danger of offering unlimited downloads of certain services compared to rivals that don’t own their own networks.
But whatever Telstra decides it had better choose quickly because the national broadband network is set to become the biggest changeover event to ever hit Australian internet users – and it won’t want the lack of Netflix to become a deciding factor for homes and businesses.
