According to ABI Research, the use of edge computing and artificial intelligence (AI) for better quality of experience (QoE) will be critical for the future of video services. The research house forecasts streaming video services to reach 585 million subscriptions in 2019.
Mobile broadband penetration together with consumers' demand for TV anytime, anywhere are the driving factors of video consumption on mobile devices, ABI says.
"5G network deployments will be a catalyst in the mobile video consumption, driving the requirement of efficient video delivery solutions," said Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst at ABI. "Higher resolution video content such as UltraHD/4K, and latency-sensitive services such as augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) video applications, are also expected to drive the deployment of edge computing platforms for content delivery."
Edge computing is attractive for the delivery of video since latency can be greatly reduced by moving the data source closer to end users. Buffering while streaming the video content can result in negative user experience and can even lead to churn. Leveraging edge and cloud content delivery platforms is essential to improve QoE, ABI believes.
AI and machine learning can also be deployed for optimization of video content delivery. AI-assisted adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming and encoding systems can improve video delivery efficiency. Pay TV and video streaming service providers can deploy AI for optimization of content summarization, personalization, and content recommendation, all of which are essential for revenue generation. Service providers can also improve customer engagement and user experience by integrating AI into set-top boxes and video streaming devices to enable voice control and voice searches.