Do Content and Carriage Mix?

As their core products and services continue to become commoditised and margins shrink, the pressure is on telcos to find new ways to compete – and that situation is being exacerbated locally as the NBN spreads across the country.

Once the basic infrastructure is the same, about the only levers left to pull are price, customer service, and the quality and capacity of the connections to the rest of the internet.

As a result, telcos have been moving into broadcasting and other media in their quest for diversification and differentiation. That has included locking up content rights, whether it’s Telstra affiliate Foxtel's stranglehold on Game of Thrones, or the acquisition of English Premier League (EPL) rights by Optus.

Complicating matters is the disruption being caused by over-the-top streaming services, led by Netflix’s entry to the Australian market.

What does this all mean for consumers? On one hand, we’re benefiting from greater competition. But on the other hand, our choices have become more complicated. In some cases, a lot more complicated.

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