Date: Apr 30th 2015
4:30pm
Venue: Olswang Office, 10 Collyer Quay, Ocean Financial Centre, #05-01 Singapore 04931
About the Forum:
The rise of online video services raises several regulatory and commercial questions in Singapore, Australia, and elsewhere in Asia
Amidst much fanfare, Netflix has launched its service in Australia. Only two days after its launch, Netflix already represents around 15 percent of consumer fixed line broadband traffic, and by some estimates, it may be closer to 25 percent if the US version (accessed by VPN) is included.
Netflix has deals in place with some of the largest telcos in Australia to be offered and promoted as “quota-free” and unmetered. Initially, this may be a good deal for consumers and for Netflix, but what does this mean for net neutrality principles? Will other markets across Asia-Pacific follow down this path or choose the US model of net neutrality and regulate the Internet as a utility?
HBO recently announced its formal plans for a truly standalone OTT service, HBO Now. Will this serve as an inflection point for OTT? What does this mean for the multichannel bundle? Will this increase the pressure for platforms to improve their TV Everywhere services? For a country like Singapore, with heavy content restrictions, will VPNs play an even greater role in ‘unblocking’ content and allow consumers to access content via OTT services?
Come join a roundtable on the afternoon of Thursday April 30th at 4:30pm at the Olswang offices where these issues will be described and discussed.
This event is free to attend but space is limited and first come first serve and in any event please RSVP at the earliest.
Speakers
Matthew Kurlanzik
Director, Government Relations, Asia, 21st Century Fox
Matt Pollins
Associate, Olswang Asia LLP
Supporting Organisations
