Mobile devices seemingly breed at will. Consumers expect all their clever gadgets to seamlessly access streaming services like HBO GO. And despite the bona fide ruckus around cord cutting, there really are still a lot of people who want to plop on the couch and binge their “Game of Thrones” on the big ol’ HDTV. So, providing content to any device, any time — and doing it in a way that won’t befuddle customers as they whiz from tablet to TV— remains a top technical challenge.
One service provider that says it’s upping the simplification game is RCN, which recently reported that it’s among the first U.S. cable providers to offer the HBO GO streaming service through its advanced DVR powered by TiVo.
“Watching popular content from the HBO GO app just became a lot more convenient,” Chris Fenger, COO at RCN says. “Our customers can now easily enjoy all HBO GO programming from either the big screen in their living room or on mobile devices — anytime, anywhere.”
The solution allows users to access all HBO programming via the HBO GO app, in addition to live TV, on-demand and other web content through one device, reducing the dreaded multi-box conundrum. HBO GO content is integrated into TiVo Search and TiVo’s OnePass selections, which is said to give users a way to access a more comprehensive catalog faster than ever before.
Another operator that recently announced “whenever, wherever” programming access was Time Warner Cable. Customers can now get programs from Discovery Communications’ portfolio on-demand as well as on a “TV Everywhere” basis, both in and out of the home, across various devices on its TWC TV app.
The likes of the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC are available for live and on demand in-home viewing on TWC TV, and all on-demand content also is available via mobile devices. TWC TV is currently available on eight platforms and features up to 300 live channels and 16,000 on-demand choices in the home as well as over 100 linear channels and 9,000 on-demand titles outside the home.
In addition to traditional on-demand via the set-top, customers also now have authenticated access to nine networks with Discovery GO online at DiscoveryGO.com and through Discovery GO apps for iPad and iPhone and Android devices, as well as via Chromecast.
Similar tales of how service providers are detangling the any device, any time puzzle will obviously continue to multiply as quickly as mobile devices do. And just-announced data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows hale and hearty proliferation.
The organization reports that mobile broadband penetration was 85.4 percent in the 34-country OECD area in June 2015, up from 76 percent in June 2014. That increase of 124 million new mobile broadband subscriptions is driven by growth in smartphones and tablets, according to OECD, and lifted the total above the one billion mark to 1.083 subscriptions in a population of 1.268 billion people.
Ten countries are above the 100 percent penetration threshold – Finland, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, United States, Korea, Estonia and Switzerland. (Countries are listed in descending order of mobile subscriptions.)
OECD data shows DSL remaining as the prevalent technology with 47.6 percent of fixed broadband subscriptions, but it continues to be gradually replaced by fiber, now at 17.9 percent. Cable made up most of the rest at 31.5 percent.
