ITV

Category: iWorld

  • IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    MUMBAI: The numbers of homes paying IPTV in Western Europe are expected to climb by nearly 7 million up by 27 per cent between 2015 and 2021, thus overtaking the pay satellite TV which is slated to fall by 300,000 between 2015 and 2021 for 18 countries in the region.  

    According to the Digital TV Western Europe Forecasts report, IPTV revenues will reach $5.77 billion in 2021 – up by $1.2 billion.

    The report indicates that this is due mainly to some operators, especially in Spain and Italy, converting their DTH subs to more lucrative bundles on their broadband networks.

    Satellite TV revenues will fall for every year from 2011 – and will decline by $1 billion between 2015 and 2021.

    Western European Pay TV is fast maturing, with penetration forecast to grow from 56.8% at end-2015 to 59.5 per cent in 2021. The number of pay TV subscribers will climb from 97.4 million in 2015 to 104.3 million in 2021.

    So, Pay TV subscriptions will only increase by 6.9 million which is 7 per cent between 2015 and 2021. However, the number of digital pay TV subs will increase by 19 per cent nearly 17 million over the same period. Digital cable subs will increase by almost 10 million.

    The 9.9 million analogue cable homes remaining at 2015-end will be the hardest to convert to digital as many of these subscribers pay for very basic packages as part of their rent.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “The remaining analogue cable TV subs are the most obstinate. These homes have had several years to transfer to digital platforms – including those from their existing operators, but are still holding out. When conversion finally happens, these homes are more likely to convert to free-to-air platforms such as DTT or satellite than their predecessors.”

    In fact, only seven (Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom) of the 18 countries covered in the report had fully converted to digital by 2015-end.

    By 2021, pay TV penetration will range from nearly 100 per cent in the Netherlands to 36 per cent in Italy. Eight countries will exceed 90 per cent pay TV penetration in 2021. However, pay TV penetration will fall in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland – countries with a large number of legacy analogue cable subscribers.

    Despite the number of pay TV homes increasing, pay TV revenues will remain flat at around $31 billion. The UK ($7,217 million) will remain the most lucrative pay TV market. Regardless of having the most pay TV subs by some distance, Germany’s pay TV revenues will remain a lot lower than the UK – at $4,183 million by 2021. In fact, France and Italy will not be too far behind Germany, despite having far fewer pay TV subscribers.

  • IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    IPTV subscriptions in Western Europe to climb by 7 mn between 2015- 21, overtaking satellite TV

    MUMBAI: The numbers of homes paying IPTV in Western Europe are expected to climb by nearly 7 million up by 27 per cent between 2015 and 2021, thus overtaking the pay satellite TV which is slated to fall by 300,000 between 2015 and 2021 for 18 countries in the region.  

    According to the Digital TV Western Europe Forecasts report, IPTV revenues will reach $5.77 billion in 2021 – up by $1.2 billion.

    The report indicates that this is due mainly to some operators, especially in Spain and Italy, converting their DTH subs to more lucrative bundles on their broadband networks.

    Satellite TV revenues will fall for every year from 2011 – and will decline by $1 billion between 2015 and 2021.

    Western European Pay TV is fast maturing, with penetration forecast to grow from 56.8% at end-2015 to 59.5 per cent in 2021. The number of pay TV subscribers will climb from 97.4 million in 2015 to 104.3 million in 2021.

    So, Pay TV subscriptions will only increase by 6.9 million which is 7 per cent between 2015 and 2021. However, the number of digital pay TV subs will increase by 19 per cent nearly 17 million over the same period. Digital cable subs will increase by almost 10 million.

    The 9.9 million analogue cable homes remaining at 2015-end will be the hardest to convert to digital as many of these subscribers pay for very basic packages as part of their rent.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “The remaining analogue cable TV subs are the most obstinate. These homes have had several years to transfer to digital platforms – including those from their existing operators, but are still holding out. When conversion finally happens, these homes are more likely to convert to free-to-air platforms such as DTT or satellite than their predecessors.”

    In fact, only seven (Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom) of the 18 countries covered in the report had fully converted to digital by 2015-end.

    By 2021, pay TV penetration will range from nearly 100 per cent in the Netherlands to 36 per cent in Italy. Eight countries will exceed 90 per cent pay TV penetration in 2021. However, pay TV penetration will fall in Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland – countries with a large number of legacy analogue cable subscribers.

    Despite the number of pay TV homes increasing, pay TV revenues will remain flat at around $31 billion. The UK ($7,217 million) will remain the most lucrative pay TV market. Regardless of having the most pay TV subs by some distance, Germany’s pay TV revenues will remain a lot lower than the UK – at $4,183 million by 2021. In fact, France and Italy will not be too far behind Germany, despite having far fewer pay TV subscribers.

  • Amagi announces world’s first watermark-Based OTT Ad insertion mechanism ‘Thunderstorm’

    Amagi announces world’s first watermark-Based OTT Ad insertion mechanism ‘Thunderstorm’

    MUMBAI: Amagi one of the leaders in cloud-based broadcast infrastructure and targeted TV advertising, today announced Thunderstorm, a new OTT ad-insertion platform that delivers personalised and targeted advertising for premium live sports and news feeds using a patented content watermarking technology. With Thunderstorm, TV networks can dynamically insert ads on the server side, as opposed to the traditional client-side insertion, monetising video on every screen without dependency on device apps. Amagi will showcase the new platform in booth SU13006 at the 2016 NAB Show, taking place April 18-21 in Las Vegas.

    “The dynamic nature of live sports and news broadcast on OTT platforms calls for a responsive and accurate ad-insertion capability,” said Amagi co-founder Baskar Subramanian. He further adds, “For the first time in the OTT advertising landscape, we have used watermarking-based ad insertion to simplify the broadcast workflow, increase flexibility, and eliminate huge integration efforts into existing broadcast traffic systems. Amagi’s patented watermarking technology is already in use by TV networks worldwide to deliver millions of targeted ad seconds every month, and through Thunderstorm we have extended this successful platform to OTT feeds.”

    Thunderstorm adds more power to the ad-insertion workflow by enabling server-side ad stitching and personalization. When multiscreen ads are delivered via client-based ad insertion systems, broadcasters and advertisers lose control over the advertising playout process. Often, viewers skip or block the ads, and the decision whether ads are played or not, can be left to the OTT service provider. Amagi’s Thunderstorm platform transforms this workflow, enabling TV networks to take control over the ads aired in their content, boost monetization, and enhance viewer satisfaction across the multiscreen environment.

    Thunderstorm will also allow broadcasters to integrate multiple ad formats, including bugs, L-bands, and linear video, for ultimate flexibility. Since ads are stitched on the cloud into the linear stream. Thunderstorm eliminates the need to create device-driven OTT ads, making ads compatible across various screens. The platform packages content and targeted ads together into a linear stream, undetected by ad blockers, leading to a smoother overall user experience.

    Amagi has a proven track record in watermark-based targeted advertising on traditional TV for well-known international broadcasters. Using Amagi’s content watermarking technology, broadcasters can identify replacement triggers and achieve frame-accurate ad splicing. In addition to Amagi watermarks, Thunderstorm also allows TV networks to use traditional triggers such as SCTE-35. By allowing TV networks to efficiently deliver personalized advertising on OTT streams as well, Amagi expands their media pack and strengthens revenue streams.

  • Amagi announces world’s first watermark-Based OTT Ad insertion mechanism ‘Thunderstorm’

    Amagi announces world’s first watermark-Based OTT Ad insertion mechanism ‘Thunderstorm’

    MUMBAI: Amagi one of the leaders in cloud-based broadcast infrastructure and targeted TV advertising, today announced Thunderstorm, a new OTT ad-insertion platform that delivers personalised and targeted advertising for premium live sports and news feeds using a patented content watermarking technology. With Thunderstorm, TV networks can dynamically insert ads on the server side, as opposed to the traditional client-side insertion, monetising video on every screen without dependency on device apps. Amagi will showcase the new platform in booth SU13006 at the 2016 NAB Show, taking place April 18-21 in Las Vegas.

    “The dynamic nature of live sports and news broadcast on OTT platforms calls for a responsive and accurate ad-insertion capability,” said Amagi co-founder Baskar Subramanian. He further adds, “For the first time in the OTT advertising landscape, we have used watermarking-based ad insertion to simplify the broadcast workflow, increase flexibility, and eliminate huge integration efforts into existing broadcast traffic systems. Amagi’s patented watermarking technology is already in use by TV networks worldwide to deliver millions of targeted ad seconds every month, and through Thunderstorm we have extended this successful platform to OTT feeds.”

    Thunderstorm adds more power to the ad-insertion workflow by enabling server-side ad stitching and personalization. When multiscreen ads are delivered via client-based ad insertion systems, broadcasters and advertisers lose control over the advertising playout process. Often, viewers skip or block the ads, and the decision whether ads are played or not, can be left to the OTT service provider. Amagi’s Thunderstorm platform transforms this workflow, enabling TV networks to take control over the ads aired in their content, boost monetization, and enhance viewer satisfaction across the multiscreen environment.

    Thunderstorm will also allow broadcasters to integrate multiple ad formats, including bugs, L-bands, and linear video, for ultimate flexibility. Since ads are stitched on the cloud into the linear stream. Thunderstorm eliminates the need to create device-driven OTT ads, making ads compatible across various screens. The platform packages content and targeted ads together into a linear stream, undetected by ad blockers, leading to a smoother overall user experience.

    Amagi has a proven track record in watermark-based targeted advertising on traditional TV for well-known international broadcasters. Using Amagi’s content watermarking technology, broadcasters can identify replacement triggers and achieve frame-accurate ad splicing. In addition to Amagi watermarks, Thunderstorm also allows TV networks to use traditional triggers such as SCTE-35. By allowing TV networks to efficiently deliver personalized advertising on OTT streams as well, Amagi expands their media pack and strengthens revenue streams.

  • Magzter launches global interactive ad network in digital mags, ties up with SPH Singaore

    Magzter launches global interactive ad network in digital mags, ties up with SPH Singaore

    NEW DELHI. Magzter, which claims to be the world’s largest digital magazine newsstand, today launched a new advertising platform in iOS and Android mobile apps. Magzter has over 7,700 magazines and over 28.5 million users around the world.

    In what it calls a pioneering and innovative move, Magzter now enables advertisers to reach out to millions of potential customers by showcasing interactive advertisements inside the most sought after digital magazines.

    Magzter also announced its strategic tie-up with SPH Magazines, Singapore for this advertising business. SPH Magazines, among world’s leading publishers and No. 1 in Singapore, will be representing Magzter for the Singapore region. With over 1,800 Indian publications from all leading publishing houses on Magzter, this would be a lucrative opportunity for publishing houses to monetise their online assets further. Globally, Magzter is targeting annual revenue of $100 million from advertising within next three years.

    Unlike normal banner advertisements that are displayed on websites, interactive advertisements can have audio-visual content in them and they can have many other interactions apart from taking the user to advertiser’s landing page. The ads are full page swipeable advertisements and non intrusive to users and continues to give best magazine reading experience. An interactive advertisement could range from playing a video to adding a floating element to it.

    Another important type is the ‘Subscription advertisement’, which helps to collect the user data instantly without moving away from the advertisement. Other exciting ways to create interactive advertisements include the usage of swipe interactions, event reminders and location pointers. Even mini games can be inserted as advertisements in between the pages of best-selling magazines. Currently, Magzter is offering full-page interactive HTML5 advertisements to ensure that the advertisements are responsive and automatically fit across all iOS and Android devices.

    “At Magzter, we are extremely happy to introduce interactive advertisements in our Apple and Android apps. This is the first time anywhere in the world such ads are being made available inside digital magazines. The digital advertising industry still has a lot of untapped potential and the arrival of immersive and contextual advertisements on Magzter inside digital magazines is a definitive step in raising the bar. We are hoping to receive tremendous response from advertisers all over the World”, Magzter Inc CEO Girish Ramdas said.

    “This will revolutionize the digital advertising industry soon.” added co-founder and president Vijay Radhakrishnan. “As our interactive advertisements appear in between the pages of a magazine, readers are most likely to get influenced by them since the advertisements are carefully chosen based on the location of the user and the category of the magazine. For instance, when a young woman is reading a fashion magazine on Magzter and she comes across an interactive advertisement to purchase a product she likes from the magazine, she is expected to go for it. Click throughs of our ad inventory is anywhere between 15-30 per cent. This is way high than standard CTR on the Web which would be less than 1 per cent,” he said.

    The advertisers can choose their preferred location, category and language to target their ads, so that they can extend their reach to the niche group of readers. This not only gives them the freedom to choose even a small region where they need more visibility, but also gives them the power to make a bigger impact within a controlled budget. With Magzter having magazines across over 30 categories in over 60 languages and users from over 175 countries, the advertisers can choose the magazines and locations that best suit their needs.

    SPH Magazines MD Joseph Lee said, “Our advertising partnership with Magzter is a significant move for us as advertising revenue is a key driver for our growth. We are also excited to represent Magzter in Singapore region to get advertisers onboard. Magzter has developed an excellent advertising platform for digital magazines and we were privileged to use it for the last 3 months. The results are extremely encouraging and our advertisers are very excited to see their interactive ads on our magazines. We have many of our titles playing ads through Magzter’s ad system.”

  • Magzter launches global interactive ad network in digital mags, ties up with SPH Singaore

    Magzter launches global interactive ad network in digital mags, ties up with SPH Singaore

    NEW DELHI. Magzter, which claims to be the world’s largest digital magazine newsstand, today launched a new advertising platform in iOS and Android mobile apps. Magzter has over 7,700 magazines and over 28.5 million users around the world.

    In what it calls a pioneering and innovative move, Magzter now enables advertisers to reach out to millions of potential customers by showcasing interactive advertisements inside the most sought after digital magazines.

    Magzter also announced its strategic tie-up with SPH Magazines, Singapore for this advertising business. SPH Magazines, among world’s leading publishers and No. 1 in Singapore, will be representing Magzter for the Singapore region. With over 1,800 Indian publications from all leading publishing houses on Magzter, this would be a lucrative opportunity for publishing houses to monetise their online assets further. Globally, Magzter is targeting annual revenue of $100 million from advertising within next three years.

    Unlike normal banner advertisements that are displayed on websites, interactive advertisements can have audio-visual content in them and they can have many other interactions apart from taking the user to advertiser’s landing page. The ads are full page swipeable advertisements and non intrusive to users and continues to give best magazine reading experience. An interactive advertisement could range from playing a video to adding a floating element to it.

    Another important type is the ‘Subscription advertisement’, which helps to collect the user data instantly without moving away from the advertisement. Other exciting ways to create interactive advertisements include the usage of swipe interactions, event reminders and location pointers. Even mini games can be inserted as advertisements in between the pages of best-selling magazines. Currently, Magzter is offering full-page interactive HTML5 advertisements to ensure that the advertisements are responsive and automatically fit across all iOS and Android devices.

    “At Magzter, we are extremely happy to introduce interactive advertisements in our Apple and Android apps. This is the first time anywhere in the world such ads are being made available inside digital magazines. The digital advertising industry still has a lot of untapped potential and the arrival of immersive and contextual advertisements on Magzter inside digital magazines is a definitive step in raising the bar. We are hoping to receive tremendous response from advertisers all over the World”, Magzter Inc CEO Girish Ramdas said.

    “This will revolutionize the digital advertising industry soon.” added co-founder and president Vijay Radhakrishnan. “As our interactive advertisements appear in between the pages of a magazine, readers are most likely to get influenced by them since the advertisements are carefully chosen based on the location of the user and the category of the magazine. For instance, when a young woman is reading a fashion magazine on Magzter and she comes across an interactive advertisement to purchase a product she likes from the magazine, she is expected to go for it. Click throughs of our ad inventory is anywhere between 15-30 per cent. This is way high than standard CTR on the Web which would be less than 1 per cent,” he said.

    The advertisers can choose their preferred location, category and language to target their ads, so that they can extend their reach to the niche group of readers. This not only gives them the freedom to choose even a small region where they need more visibility, but also gives them the power to make a bigger impact within a controlled budget. With Magzter having magazines across over 30 categories in over 60 languages and users from over 175 countries, the advertisers can choose the magazines and locations that best suit their needs.

    SPH Magazines MD Joseph Lee said, “Our advertising partnership with Magzter is a significant move for us as advertising revenue is a key driver for our growth. We are also excited to represent Magzter in Singapore region to get advertisers onboard. Magzter has developed an excellent advertising platform for digital magazines and we were privileged to use it for the last 3 months. The results are extremely encouraging and our advertisers are very excited to see their interactive ads on our magazines. We have many of our titles playing ads through Magzter’s ad system.”

  • Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    MUMBAI: The Online video streaming platform muvizz.com increased its library by signing a deal with PVR and has acquired 25 movie titles for exclusive streaming.

    The deal will now give subscribers access to movies such as: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Another Year (2010), Greenberg (2010), The Greatest (2009), A Single Man (2009), Nightwatching (2007), etc. The 25 titles include some major award winning films and are already available to all the registered users of muvizz.com.

    Muvizz.com declared that these titles span across multiple languages and genres, including feature films, documentaries and short films. The website currently has around 300 titles and is planning to acquire more in the coming months.

    “Our intent is to get closer to our audience,” said Muvizz.com founder Abhayanand Singh. “We also hope that this content acquisition will help muvizz.com grow and provide our users with some remarkable films. We want such interesting films to reach the audiences and cinephiles so that they can enjoy good cinema.”

    Muvizz.com offers only a curated list of titles ranging from short films to documentaries to feature films in various languages to its users, so that they don’t have to go through thousands of titles to decide which one to watch. One major example is the critically acclaimed film “Path of Zarathustra” that muvizz.com recently started streaming.

  • Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    MUMBAI: The Online video streaming platform muvizz.com increased its library by signing a deal with PVR and has acquired 25 movie titles for exclusive streaming.

    The deal will now give subscribers access to movies such as: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Another Year (2010), Greenberg (2010), The Greatest (2009), A Single Man (2009), Nightwatching (2007), etc. The 25 titles include some major award winning films and are already available to all the registered users of muvizz.com.

    Muvizz.com declared that these titles span across multiple languages and genres, including feature films, documentaries and short films. The website currently has around 300 titles and is planning to acquire more in the coming months.

    “Our intent is to get closer to our audience,” said Muvizz.com founder Abhayanand Singh. “We also hope that this content acquisition will help muvizz.com grow and provide our users with some remarkable films. We want such interesting films to reach the audiences and cinephiles so that they can enjoy good cinema.”

    Muvizz.com offers only a curated list of titles ranging from short films to documentaries to feature films in various languages to its users, so that they don’t have to go through thousands of titles to decide which one to watch. One major example is the critically acclaimed film “Path of Zarathustra” that muvizz.com recently started streaming.

  • India has failed to move up the GCI index, despite the Digitization push and increase in broadband base

    India has failed to move up the GCI index, despite the Digitization push and increase in broadband base

    NEW DELHI: Despite the stress on Digital India, India retains its rank at the 44th position in GCI 2016 – the same as last year. India has a huge consumer base that’s connected to the globe mainly by submarine cables..

    Huawei’s 2016 Global Connectivity Index (GCI) released today.says India can focus on speeding up its optical fiber Bharat Broadband Networks to bring high-speed Internet connectivity to rural areas. Strategies for increasing mobile broadband supply will increase demand in the nation.

    Both the public and private sectors need to invest in their networks to serve the growing subscriber base, and provide universal broadband access with digital literacy programs to close the rural-urban divide. The government plans to train an additional 10 million people in ICT from towns and villages to help digitize rural communities.

    Global improvements have been seen in overall levels of national and economic digitization.

    In its third year, the report measures the progress of 50 nations in investing in and deploying Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to achieve economic digitization.

    The greatest improvements across the globe have been seen in broadband coverage and speed, but nations are also making headway with cloud, big data, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.

    GCI 2016, Connect where it counts, measures how nations are progressing with digital transformation based on 40 indicators that cover the supply, demand, experience, and potential of five technology enablers: broadband, data centers, cloud, big data, and IoT. Investing in these five technologies enables nations to digitize their economies.

    Average national connectivity levels are 5 percent higher than they were in 2015.

    Twelve countries improved their positions, while four experienced a drop. The top three developed economies are the United States, Singapore, and Sweden. The leading developing economies are the United Arab Emirates in 19th place, Qatar in 21st, and China in 23rd.

    Examples of countries that moved up the index include the UK in 5th, up one place from last year; Malaysia, which jumped four places to 25th; and Indonesia, which moved up two places to 41st. Malaysia and Indonesia’s gains are attributable to broadband rollout, which in turn influences data center development. These two basic technologies lay the foundation for the three advanced technology enablers: cloud, big data, and IoT.

    GCI scores continue to show a positive correlation with GDP, similar to last year’s findings. However, the extent to which GCI influences GDP varies with the stage of digital transformation in each country.

    GCI 2016 identifies three groups of nations: Starters are beginning their digital journey and score between 20 and 34. At the moment, their digital infrastructure is not developed enough to strongly influence GDP. Adopters in the middle range have a stronger digital infrastructure and score between 35 and 55. They experience the greatest GDP gains per GCI point increase. Frontrunners show the greatest digital development with scores above 55, although GDP gains per GCI point are slightly less than Adopters.  However, Frontrunners show more mature cloud, big data, and IoT in readiness for more extensive economic digitization.

    GCI 2016 finds that investing in digital infrastructure correlates to GDP gains because it increases economic dynamism, efficiency, and productivity. To drive further GDP gains, countries need to move up the technology stack by investing in new technologies and ensuring they are adopted by governments, industry, and people.

    According to the report, nations with high GCI scores are also more competitive and innovative, with a close correlation found between GCI scores and ratings in the WEF Global Competitiveness Index and the Global Innovation Index, jointly published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization.

    “A revolutionary shift is occurring in the way the world works, with economies across the planet going digital fast. Nations that are in the early stages of economic digitization should develop long-term technology plans that include broadband and data centers to reap the benefits of enhanced growth,” said Kevin Zhang, president of Huawei Corporate Marketing. “Developed economies wanting to capitalize on their frontrunner ICT status should invest more in cloud, big data, and IoT technologies and solutions to experience the full benefits of a digital economy.”

    The 50 countries assessed by GCI 2016 account for 90 percent of global GDP and 78 percent of the world’s population.
    For information about Huawei Connectivity Index, visit: www.huawei.com/gci

     

  • India has failed to move up the GCI index, despite the Digitization push and increase in broadband base

    India has failed to move up the GCI index, despite the Digitization push and increase in broadband base

    NEW DELHI: Despite the stress on Digital India, India retains its rank at the 44th position in GCI 2016 – the same as last year. India has a huge consumer base that’s connected to the globe mainly by submarine cables..

    Huawei’s 2016 Global Connectivity Index (GCI) released today.says India can focus on speeding up its optical fiber Bharat Broadband Networks to bring high-speed Internet connectivity to rural areas. Strategies for increasing mobile broadband supply will increase demand in the nation.

    Both the public and private sectors need to invest in their networks to serve the growing subscriber base, and provide universal broadband access with digital literacy programs to close the rural-urban divide. The government plans to train an additional 10 million people in ICT from towns and villages to help digitize rural communities.

    Global improvements have been seen in overall levels of national and economic digitization.

    In its third year, the report measures the progress of 50 nations in investing in and deploying Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to achieve economic digitization.

    The greatest improvements across the globe have been seen in broadband coverage and speed, but nations are also making headway with cloud, big data, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.

    GCI 2016, Connect where it counts, measures how nations are progressing with digital transformation based on 40 indicators that cover the supply, demand, experience, and potential of five technology enablers: broadband, data centers, cloud, big data, and IoT. Investing in these five technologies enables nations to digitize their economies.

    Average national connectivity levels are 5 percent higher than they were in 2015.

    Twelve countries improved their positions, while four experienced a drop. The top three developed economies are the United States, Singapore, and Sweden. The leading developing economies are the United Arab Emirates in 19th place, Qatar in 21st, and China in 23rd.

    Examples of countries that moved up the index include the UK in 5th, up one place from last year; Malaysia, which jumped four places to 25th; and Indonesia, which moved up two places to 41st. Malaysia and Indonesia’s gains are attributable to broadband rollout, which in turn influences data center development. These two basic technologies lay the foundation for the three advanced technology enablers: cloud, big data, and IoT.

    GCI scores continue to show a positive correlation with GDP, similar to last year’s findings. However, the extent to which GCI influences GDP varies with the stage of digital transformation in each country.

    GCI 2016 identifies three groups of nations: Starters are beginning their digital journey and score between 20 and 34. At the moment, their digital infrastructure is not developed enough to strongly influence GDP. Adopters in the middle range have a stronger digital infrastructure and score between 35 and 55. They experience the greatest GDP gains per GCI point increase. Frontrunners show the greatest digital development with scores above 55, although GDP gains per GCI point are slightly less than Adopters.  However, Frontrunners show more mature cloud, big data, and IoT in readiness for more extensive economic digitization.

    GCI 2016 finds that investing in digital infrastructure correlates to GDP gains because it increases economic dynamism, efficiency, and productivity. To drive further GDP gains, countries need to move up the technology stack by investing in new technologies and ensuring they are adopted by governments, industry, and people.

    According to the report, nations with high GCI scores are also more competitive and innovative, with a close correlation found between GCI scores and ratings in the WEF Global Competitiveness Index and the Global Innovation Index, jointly published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization.

    “A revolutionary shift is occurring in the way the world works, with economies across the planet going digital fast. Nations that are in the early stages of economic digitization should develop long-term technology plans that include broadband and data centers to reap the benefits of enhanced growth,” said Kevin Zhang, president of Huawei Corporate Marketing. “Developed economies wanting to capitalize on their frontrunner ICT status should invest more in cloud, big data, and IoT technologies and solutions to experience the full benefits of a digital economy.”

    The 50 countries assessed by GCI 2016 account for 90 percent of global GDP and 78 percent of the world’s population.
    For information about Huawei Connectivity Index, visit: www.huawei.com/gci