Mobile Apps The current state of Telecom apps and GPC’s potential future
State of Mobile Apps Large Cable Companies have been in the mobile space an average of 1-2 years Smaller cable companies are just now beginning to launch mobile apps Most focus on account management or mobile Cable viewing This is complicated by current cable licenses which don’t provide outside- of-home viewing rights
Case Study: Comcast (Xfinity) TV App (iOS only: iPhone, iTouch, iPad) Search TV listings and On-Demand Offerings Cell phone as a remote – change channels, not volume Not always able to work on TV directly, affects the box
Case Study: Comcast/Xfinity Xfinity Mobile App One inbox for and voic View home phone logs of missed and received calls Sync contacts to universal list
Case Study: Comcast (Xfinity) Comcast.net is optimized for mobile viewing Fewer words Large graphic Drop Down Menu Easy access to Weather TV listings Bill Pay Distinct from the computer-based website
Case Study: Time Warner Cable iPad/iPhone App allows users to view select channels online Application crashed due to popularity Down for several days Had strong communication plan in place
Case Study: Time Warner Cable Conditions of Online App User must remain in the home to utilize the app Licenses don’t allow users to view channels outside of the home Users are verified by using registered in-home router Channels available (100 channels available) Travel Channel Turner Classic Movies Cartoon Network Discovery Channel
Case Study: Paul Bunyan Communications Created Video on Demand application Internal effort Allows users to view VoD options Doesn’t allow purchase Application is adding trailers for streaming in the near future Licensing doesn’t allow for mobile viewing Reached out to application’s maker, will be able to use as a resource
Key Takeaways Comcast built its applications around customer needs The main needs of our customers Bill Pay Account Management Access Time Warner built a wildly successful applications around customer wants The main wants we can provide for our customers Tutorials Local Content Husker Coverage (pending review of licensing agreements)
Mobile Web According to IT, the first step should focus on Mobile Web Two types of mobile web Shadow version that mirrors the current website Mobile focused version with top pages only Easier to navigate Provides one-step access for most used tools Webmail eBill Adam is working with the portal provider to explore options for mobile version Currently the mobile version doesn’t include links to webmail or eBill Only local links
Mobile Applications NISC has rolled out mobile applications for utilities The company expects to have mobile applications for eBill and other services for cable companies by the end of next year Applications are more expensive to create and can average $5,000 - $20,000 for basic programs Hard to keep up with latest versions of mobile operating systems – full time job to keep up, according to IT Applications are seldom revenue generating
What Can Be Done in The Short-Term Mobile Web with fast access to Bill Pay Webmail Bundle Finder Additional services request form Create GPC-TV YouTube channel and promote stream-able content Casey is researching licenses for content including high school football games
What Can Be Done in The Short-Term SMS Text-Based Solutions Customer Service Ask-a-Tech Text or Video chat on mobile Estimated wait times? Major Outage notifications (text based)
Long-Term projects Voic applications Webmail/Voic combined in-box Voic to text Forwarding voic and call logs to cell phone eBill application GPC-TV as a stand-alone branded application Owned programming Tutorials Viewing Pay-Per-View options Data Center Services Real time networking reports Monitor disaster/data recovery efforts