Telcos and Virtual and Augmented Reality (VRAR): Opportunities, Challenges and Winning Strategies

"Telcos and Virtual and Augmented Reality (VRAR): Opportunities, Challenges and Winning Strategies", a thematic research report by GlobalData, examines the business drivers, key strategies and the ensuing challenges and opportunities in VRAR for telcos. The VRAR market development turned the corner in 2016-2017, fuelled largely by an infusion of capital from leading tech companies and other investors. Telcos are becoming interested in the potential revenue streams related to VRAR, since it is not only a vehicle for 5G monetization, but can also help telcos drive content innovation and service integration across mobile, broadband and content offers. This report outlines emerging VRAR revenue models for telcos, their current participation in the industry and the potential impact of VRAR on the telco business. It analyzes the strategies of leading network operators including Orange, SK Telecom, AT&T and Verizon that are stepping up to tackle the challenges related to the VRAR opportunity with acquisitions, partnerships and robust network strategies. The report wraps up with an analysis of key opportunities for telcos in VRAR , together with critical success factors and recommendations.

The VRAR market development turned the corner in 2016-2017, fuelled largely by an infusion of capital from leading tech companies and other investors. Despite robust momentum on the supply side, the VRAR market is still nascent, with the penetration of VRAR headsets very low relative to other computing devices. Telcos are becoming interested in the potential revenue streams related to VRAR as well, since it is not only a vehicle for 5G monetization, but can also help telcos drive content innovation and service integration across mobile, broadband and content offers. As a result, we have seen telcos entering key segments of the VRAR supply chain in the past two years, including VRAR platforms, content creation and services. We also see potential plays for telcos in VRAR advertising and data analytics, and the application of VRAR for customer operations.

The report is structured as follows –
– Section 1: Telcos and the VRAR opportunity. This section discusses emerging VRAR revenue models and key business drivers for telcos to invest in the space. It also reviews the potential impact of VRAR on the telco business, their current participation in the industry and their readiness to tackle the opportunities ahead.
– Section 2: Telco strategies in VRAR – case studies. This section examines the initial strategies of four telcos investing in the VRAR space.
– Section 3: Findings and recommendations. We conclude the report with a set of key findings and critical considerations and recommendations for telcos pursuing the VRAR opportunity.

Scope

– VRAR represents an opportunity for telcos to increase their digital services imprint and explore new revenue streams. Given the nascent nature of the market, success in VRAR requires a long-term vision. Telcos interested in gaining growth in the space must be prepared to invest and address important challenges related to network readiness, ecosystem enablement and collaboration in the near term.

– Network readiness. The first feat for operators is to demonstrate their network readiness to satisfy the phenomenal bandwidth demands of VRAR experiences, while meeting the speed and latency requirements.

– Ecosystem enablement. VRAR market development is led by digital powerhouses (Google, Facebook and Microsoft) and device makers (Samsung, HTC and Sony). These companies position themselves as ecosystem enablers, and are making major investments to proof-test the technology. To succeed, telcos must understand how to best position themselves vis-à-vis the robust digital services expertise of these tech giants. A key success factor VRAR content platforms and service providers is to be platform-agnostic, enable growth with tools and services that work across VRAR devices and software.

– Collaborative strategies. The early lead of market players Samsung and Google is evidence that cross-industry partnerships are a key factor to succeed in driving user volume and content creation in the VRAR space. Telcos must be prepared to work with other ecosystem partners in delivering high-quality VRAR experiences, content and tools.

– The expansion of the VRAR ecosystem brings growth opportunities for telcos in connectivity, content and service platforms. As service providers, telcos are uniquely positioned to generate recurring revenue by offering VRAR platform services in content creation and distribution as well as advertising and analytics services.

Reasons to Buy

– This report provides an examination of emerging VRAR business models for telcos as well as market opportunities and challenges to help executives better understand the development of the market ecosystem and telco positioning and monetization strategies, determine what works and what doesn’t, formulate effective product development plans and optimize resource allocation and return on investments.

– The report highlights innovative and progressive approaches and monetization models that can help service providers develop VRAR business models and create new revenue streams.

– The report discusses concrete opportunities for VRAR, providing a number of actionable recommendations for telcos.