The television industry has undergone a tremendous transformation in the delivery of content. Over-the-top (OTT) providers have taken the spotlight away from traditional cable and broadband operators, as the demand for TV Everywhere (TVE) services continues to strengthen and consumers increasingly access content from a number of mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

In fact, the continuous spread of connected consumer devices is predicted to push the OTT market past $20 billion by 2015. “The shift to digital and over-the-top distribution is accelerating, particularly as content providers increasingly warm up to these channels,” said Michael Inouye, senior analyst for ABI Research.Moreover, the global broadcast and streaming video equipment market topped $2 billion in 2012 and is forecast to grow about 12 percent in 2013, according to data from research firm Infonetics.

However, it’s important to remember that over-the-top providers heavily rely on facilities-based broadband service providers – or entities that provide broadband services over facilities it owns, provisions and/or equips – to deliver content to users.  Without infrastructure of their own, OTT service providers simply ride over the top of cable and broadband operators’ infrastructures. Therefore, without a solid backbone, over-the-top providers cannot deliver services.

GLDS’ solutions were built for a perfect balance between billing subscriptions/transactions, and infrastructure management that allows users to seamlessly add complete control of voice, video and data service deliver. The solution offers facilities-based providers a way to ensure automated end-to-end service delivery and billing, while it also protects revenue by ensuing that delivered service are always billed.

To learn more about Great Lake Data Systems’ SuperController, click here.