AfriCam CEO Peter Armitage says Internet streaming video and video on demand will reach quality levels comparable to that of normal broadcast television in three to seven years.
And then traditional television had better watch out.
"There are many advantages on the Internet," Armitage said. "It allows video on demand, it is unregulated, costs are low as are barriers to entry. It is interactive and, above all, it allows a relationship with the viewer."
[Internet video] is unregulated, costs are low as are barriers to entry. It is interactive and, above all, it allows a relationship with the viewer.
Peter Armitage, CEO, AfriCam
A traditional TV station, on the other hand, could spend more than a billion rand to break even, and has none of these advantages.
Armitage was speaking at the monthly First Tuesday meeting, which seeks to bring together Internet entrepreneurs and venture capitalists looking for investment opportunities.
AfriCam webcasts wildlife scenes from cameras placed in conservation areas and, more recently, underwater. It claims to have had one million unique users in the second quarter of this year, and 85% of its traffic comes from outside Africa, Armitage says.
"Africa is our product, not our market," he said at the meeting. "Wildlife is Africa`s competitive advantage."
Phased
AfriCam has decided on a phased approach to eventually provide broadcast quality streaming video. Armitage says there is no doubt that full streaming video is the way to go, but that providing it immediately will be financial suicide.
"One has to adapt one`s product to the [Internet connection] speed the audience can achieve. There are a few million broadband users right at the top and South Africa will follow."
He defines broadband as a 300k connection, but says 95% of users are still using dial-up connections between 28k and 56k, making 30 second refreshing pictures the only feasible option. For quality streaming, between five and ten frames per second is needed.
However, he believes that bandwidth is a problem that will solve itself soon.
"As more and more money goes into bandwidth rollout it becomes a tidal wave and access gets faster and cheaper," he says, quoting predictions that 20% of all Internet users will have broadband access by 2003. Such development will also fuel the growth of sites providing content, and AfriCam expects 300 000 or more such sites to be active by the end of this year.
Bill wins the war
As for platforms, Armitage has no doubt that Microsoft will become the standard.
"Bill will win the war. Microsoft will become more and more prevalent. At the moment, if you want to stream you have to go with Real [Media] and Microsoft. We believe Microsoft will get more and more marketshare."
That still leaves the small matter of making money once the infrastructure is in place, but again, Armitage is confident, saying that bandwidth is the biggest expense, which can only decrease.
There is also an opportunity to learn from a side of the industry seldom spoken about or even mentioned. "There is a lot of [subscription and pay-per-view] payment in pornography, and that is moving into the rest of the market too."
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