Is the era of "cheap, all-you-can-watch content” (for consumers) ending? This is the contention of a recent Guardian article examining challenges telcos face. Connecting the dots between writers’ and actors’ strikes, booming broadband use, increasing infrastructure costs and streaming, the article taps into the old adage: ”Nothing in life is free”. The notion of ”cheap” really depends on where you sit in the value chain and how you can leverage the resources available to you.From the telco perspective supporting the boom in streaming use is not “cheap” but there are strategies that can be applied to regain control.

First, it’s important to understand the economic drivers for streamers and telcos/service providers. The consumer is the source of revenue either directly in the form of subscriptions (for streaming services and broadband) or indirectly from advertising. For now let’s just focus on the supply chain players or the cost of sale elements from the streamer and broadband provider perspective.

The move from legacy distribution methods towards an all-IP streaming business model is top of mind for broadcasters, telcos and service providers. Across the industry, plans are afoot to phase out linear technologies and build infrastructure and platforms around future-proof IP-based technologies. Broadcasters are looking to move from cable and satellite to internet-based delivery. Telcos see an opportunity to bring content delivery in-house on their own network, for an expanded service offering and reduced reliance on using external CDNs for streaming.

Streaming consumption will undoubtedly increase as both digital-only homes and broadband penetration continue to rise. Combine this with a need to handle higher bitrates and more streaming use cases and you have a technical challenge on your hands: 

“From an infrastructure provisioning point of view, if you can deliver the same or better demand with less infrastructure or investment, from fewer boxes on live streams, why wouldn’t you?” - RTÉ on Varnish

OK, fine, not for free per se, but using bandwidth that you’ve already paid for.