Mexico. The Federal Institute of Telecommunications, IFT, presented the study "Digital OTT Platforms", with detailed information from the perspective of economic competition, about the platforms that operate on the Internet, by which digital communication, connection and link services on the Internet are provided, whose emergence and development within the digital economy is a consequence of the technological evolution of telecommunications networks.
Among the most outstanding elements incorporated in the study is the evolution and convergence of Telecommunications and Broadcasting (T&R) services and networks, which currently operate, mostly, within the digital field and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which include:
- T&A networks, concessions and the Internet.
- Concessioned and non-concessioned T&A services, including OTT services.
- Software (including cloud computing), hardware and infrastructure (including servers/data centers) that allows the sending, receiving of signals, data and information (communication).
- Communication products or devices, such as telephone devices, cellular devices, desktop computers and laptops.
- In addition, the different characteristics that describe the OTT Digital Platforms are addressed, including that these are evolved and convergent systems that offer OTT (non-concessioned) communication, connection and link services of different groups of users, giving rise to multi-sided markets, and that they are provided on the Internet telecommunications networks that are also a convergent evolution of the concessioned telecommunications networks.
The study allows to have a complete vision of what the OTT Digital Platforms are, clarifying various confusions in the understanding of these and, in general, of the OTT Digital Services.
Perhaps one of the most significant is the difference between the provision of OTT Digital Services as a distinct and distinguishable activity versus the sale of physical products and services that use the internet and the OTT Digital Platforms themselves as an additional sales channel to physical media.
The study argues that all T&A services and networks (both concessioned and non-concessioned), including OTT Digital Services and OTT Digital Platforms, share similar functional, technical and technological characteristics within the fields of telecommunications, ICT and the Internet ecosystem.
To view the study, click here.
