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As most high-speed access customers know, a broadband connection doesn't necessarily mean avoiding the world wide wait. A variety of factors ranging from an unpredictable public Internet to content providers' encoding levels can impact the end user experience.
Incanta, an Atlanta-based start-up, aims to target broadband customers with a new content service, optimized to deliver CD-quality audio and broadcast quality video to PCs and eventually to television via advanced set-top boxes. By doing so, the company believes it also is creating a value add that local Internet service providers can use to retain or acquire customers in their increasingly competitive markets.
"We want to create an experience that will make the Web a true alternative to traditional media," says Scott Ryan, the CEO and founder of Incanta. "Right now, broadband users experience a variety of problems, from buffering issues which create stops and starts in the video or audio stream, to a lack of categorization of content making it hard to find high-bandwidth content."
Incanta's strategy for conquering these common problems is to aggregate broadband optimized content, then partner with local ISPs to bring this content to the "edge" of the Internet, offering a high-quality, personalized, localized package. ISPs can brand this package locally, using it as a free, value add to their access customers.
The service allows users to create personal music and video collections; Users download a video or audio player from the Incanta Website that allows them to create personal profiles. Software tracks usage patterns, customizing offerings to the user's taste over time.
With intense competition among ISPs, and high churn rates among subscribers, Incanta sees it's offering as a powerful tool for gaining and keeping customers. "We offer ISPs a managed set of content which they can use to improve their business," says Ryan, "We also offer a number of up sell possibilities, to enhance revenues."
Incanta has additional content, available on either a pay-per-view or subscription basis, although it also plans on advertising revenues through its free service. Using a model similar to cable TV, broadband ISPs will market the service to customers and control billing, then share revenues with Incanta.
As Incanta knits together a network of ISPs and subscribers, Ryan expects content providers will be willing to buy in to their service, attracted by the quality of service and access to eyeballs.
"Content providers can't scale to the dispersed nature of the Internet in a centralized system," says John Brothers, Incanta's CTO. "We help them get their content to the edge of the Internet, and right to their target audience." Ryan believes the company can reap some $12 million in 2001 by charging content providers to push their content over the network.
Incanta received an initial $2 million round of angel funding in December 1999, mostly from Toronto-based Mosaic Venture Partners. Last month, the company announced another $12 million from investors that included AT&T Canada and Intel Capital. "We see ourselves reaching profitability in about two years," says Ryan.
To get some expertise and exposure, Incanta also has created an advisory board that includes such interactive and entertainment figures as Chris Bowick, senior vice president of technology development for Cox Communications, entertainment attorney Joel Katz of Greenberg Traurig, and parrothead singer-author Jimmy Buffett.
Since it began offering service in January, Incanta has gained about 20,000 registered users, although these are beta users of the content services who are not bandwidth optimized through ISPs. "These are more to demonstrate how the service works," says Brothers. "We'll be announcing some larger trials with ISPs soon and before the end of the year we'll go live."
Incanta still is negotiating its content partnerships in the video arena, though it announced three video "channels" in September: AdventureTV.com, providers of nature, wildlife, and adventure travel video; The Auto Channel, a comprehensive destination for aficionados of everything automotive; and Cybertown, a futuristic 3D online community.
For its CD audio channels, it has negotiated agreements with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Recording Industry Association of America to use published music.
While there are a variety of start-up ventures seeking to aggregate content for broadband users, Ryan sees more cooperation than competition. Excite@Home and Roadrunner, for instance, also are vying to be content portals for broadband customers. "We are already discussing possibilities of providing outsourced content for Excite@Home," says Ryan.
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