Secret to Multiplay Success in Latin America Requires Mass Market Appeal, Finds Pyramid

Secret to Multiplay Success in Latin America Requires Mass Market Appeal,
Finds Pyramid

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- As operators continue to exhaust the
high-income consumer segments in Latin America, the bundling strategies with
the best chance of success involve broadened offerings that will attract
lower-income households to broadband and pay-TV, according to a new report
from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light
Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Multiplay Services in Latin America: Operators Target the Mass Market examines
the multiplay strategies of several leading operators in Latin America and the
rationale for engaging customers outside the higher-income population
segments. This 12-page report compares the cost of multiplay services across
several markets to demonstrate that there is potential for costs to come down
in Latin America, which would boost penetration. Case studies of two
integrated operators -- NET Servicos in Brazil and Claro in Central America --
examine the strategic challenges and choices involved in expanding target
markets through bundling. Download an excerpt of this report here:
http://www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=5&sc=PR062609_INLA1.4. Multiplay Services
Forecasts (http://www.pyramidresearch.com/multiplayfcst.htm) are also
available and provide service demand and revenue trends for bundled and
blended telecom and media products worldwide.

In Latin America, bundling has gained traction in the last three years as
fixed operators expanded into the pay-TV market and cable operators pushed
further into traditional telco territory. So far, bundling has attracted
mostly people in high-end socioeconomic groups who can afford these services;
however, the value proposition of operators is being challenge, notes Jose
Magana, analysts at Pyramid Research and author of the report.

"Given that Latin America's GDP per capita was $7,856 in 2008, operators must
face the fact that to keep penetration of fixed services growing and meet
revenue expectations, they will soon exhaust the high-income consumer segments
in Latin America," says Magana. "Therefore they must start developing
strategies to attract lower-income households to broadband and pay-TV by
offering an assortment of bundles," he adds.

Although selling to lower-income consumers is a challenge, they also represent
an opportunity to reap considerable benefits because of the significant size
of the populations. "The challenge is to find the right mix of prices, and
differentiation, such as higher broadband connection speeds, pay-per-view
content, and specific pay-TV packages, will be crucial to increasing uptake of
packages and helping to contain the decline of ARPS," he explains. "The
addressable opportunity for operators is to gain access to the 70 percent of
households that remain underserved in Latin America -- if operators can access
at least half of those households, they will easily be doubling their service
base in terms of customer relationships," Magana says.

Multiplay Services in Latin America: Operators Target the Mass Market is part
of Pyramid Research's Latin America Telecom Insider report series. Telecom
Insiders are packed with trend analysis, industry best practices, market
sizing and forecasting, competitor analysis, and case studies, providing you
information you can leverage to make better business decisions.

Download an excerpt of this report here:
http://www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=5&sc=PR062609_INLA1.4. This report is
priced at $595 and can be purchased online here:
http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/ins_la_090619.htm?sc=LR070109_INLA1.4 or
by contacting Jeff Claudino via email at claudino@pyr.com or telephone at
+1-619-229-9940.

About Pyramid Research
Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex
demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology
industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of
emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered
by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries-a
distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As the telecom
research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research
works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry's most
comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology
analysis.

About Light Reading
Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online
media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide
communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology
and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media
sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research
arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive
communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100
markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted
communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet
Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused
one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light
Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a
unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb
TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology
media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology
decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected
and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than
13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our
communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0,
Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light
Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The
Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning
InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology
magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation
performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services.
TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization
of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited
UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information
distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization
of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve
professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from
journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists - with integrated
events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in
more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these
communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business
and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information,
go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

Press contact:
Jennifer Baker
+1 617 871-1910
jbaker@pyr.com

SOURCE Pyramid Research

Jennifer Baker, Pyramid Research, +1-617-871-1910, jbaker@pyr.com