Features

HP Positions to Exploit Entertainment and Telecom Convergence

By Sophia Mayengbam

HP has unveiled new content initiatives in its strategy to help two converging industries, telecom and entertainment, benefit from the historic shift to digital media. HP, who has been serving the telecommunications and entertainment sectors, feels that it is in a unique position to work with these industries as they converge through the opportunity presented by digital content.

HP has renamed the business group that serves these key industry customers as HP Communications, Media & Entertainment (CME). HP CME will continue to serve the world’s wireless and wireline service providers, network equipment suppliers, and a broad array of companies that are creating and distributing content – that is, the movies, music, news, and sports that entertain people around the world. Previously, HP CME served these customers as the HP Network and Service Provider business.

This strategic move marks a reorganisation of HP’s existing offerings and to reflect the convergence of telecom and entertainment industries. Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief technology officer, HP said, "These two dynamic and technology-oriented industries continue to be a key part of our corporate strategy."

Deregulation, wireless technology, and the Internet are turning operators in a fast-moving market in which they must bring to market thousands of personalized services -- voice, data and multimedia -- to stay competitive. As operators streamline their networks and support systems with digital (Internet Protocol or IP) technology, they are also seeking enriched, entertaining content to make the new services attractive to customers.

Digital technology is also transforming the entertainment industry. Content is becoming digital, from initial creation through distribution to final consumption. Content owners and distributors see abundant opportunities to leverage the value of their film, music and television, assets. Many of these opportunities, high speed Internet, digital TV (IPTV) and mobile handsets, involve relationships with the telecom service providers.

The company is helping companies in both industries understand their mutual opportunities in a larger, converged “ecosystem.” HP is also delivering a broad array of standards-based, service-oriented solutions that it has optimised to meet specific industry requirements in both telecom and entertainment.

"With this enhanced focus, we will speed the convergence of digital content and communications, driving new revenues for both our media and entertainment customers and our communications customers," said Sebastiano Tevarotto, vice president and general manager of the newly-named Communications, Media & Entertainment business.

For mobile and fixed operators, HP is offering carrier-grade network infrastructure, comprehensive service creation, delivery and management frameworks, operations and billing systems, and innovative personal devices such as wireless notebooks, handhelds, and digital TVs and projectors.

HP is also helping telecom service providers evolve their legacy networks toward IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based networks.

For entertainment companies, HP is providing the powerful server platforms for content creation, advanced workflow environments for digital content management and distribution, specialised media storage, and again, the personal devices.

Together, the two industries, which are evolving toward a single, expanded market, account for about 10 percent of HP revenue, about USD 9 billion across all HP business groups.


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