IHT postulates that telcos will transform themselves into content firms:
Within five years or so, the familiar land-line “telco” and even the mobile operator will disappear, …. Instead, broadband service providers will replace them, selling packages, bundles or channels of communications, information and entertainment.
We don’t have to go far to identify this trend. Look at Comcast – they have gone from a pure cable provider to content producer for both TV and Internet.
The loser in Baujard’s scenario is not the traditional media and entertainment company, but the traditional distributors: broadcasters and physical retailers. “They are middlemen,” he said, “and their value will be drastically challenged.”
Wasn’t this the great disintermediation debate from 1996?
