Erik Huggers, former SVP for Verizon and former President for OnCue, Intel Media’s intended Cloud TV service, has suggested that IPTV has no long-term future for telcos, recommending that rather than invest in expensive sports rights, they put their resources into boosting speeds.

Huggers, credited as the driving force behind the success of the BBC iPlayer, told delegates at the PEVE Entertainment Business Futures 2014 Conference in London that “there is no future for IPTV in the long term,” suggesting that traditionally, telcos were not innovators and would struggle to compete with technology innovators. They were also hamstrung by the lack of a global footprint.

“Instead of expensive rights, European telcos should invest in their networks, raising the speed to 1 Gbps. That would really put them on the map,” he said.

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