Cutting through the quad-play hype and speculation to identify the market preconditions, the mix of technologies and the customer benefits which will drive the roll-out of successful quadruple play offerings.

Quadruple play services – where subscribers receive phone, mobile, broadband and TV from a single service provider – have been the subject of much speculation and considerable industry hype in recent years. Yet there is little consensus on the defining characteristics of a quadruple play and many untested assumptions about the readiness of particular national markets for the emergence of quadruple play.

In this report, the author introduces some rigour into the debate about quadruple play services. We have done this by defining clearly the mix of technologies and services which we believe make up a valid quadruple play. We have also surveyed a representative sample of operators around the world to see who is currently offering quadruple play, who is actively considering it and who has the potential to launch it during our five-year forecast horizon. We have examined national markets and key operators to arrive at a formula which defines the preconditions that must exist in any market before a quadruple play can succeed. Based on our analysis, we have also forecast the subscriber numbers and service revenues for quadruple play globally and by region. We also make numerous observations about the prospects for quadruple play in important markets such as the US, Japan, France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Canada, China and India.