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Cable Ready to go “on the offensive” as Traction Builds Around Digital Services
(Brussels, 7 March) Europe’s cable industry is ready to transform Europe’s pay television landscape in the same way as it has revolutionised broadband markets by aggressively rolling out new digital TV services, industry experts told delegates at Cable Congress today.Michael Fries, President and CEO of Liberty Global, said: “It’s absolutely critical that as an industry we get on the same road map as quickly as possible when it comes to giving consumers the content they want, when they want it and where they want it. We did this with broadband, where we lead the way in Europe and we now have the opportunity to aggressively roll out digital television in the same way. This isn’t about defensive moves; it’s about pre-empting our competition by giving consumers what they want now.”
But in order to enable cable to compete fair and square with often much larger rivals, it is also necessary to ensure that the correct regulatory framework is in place to ensure free and fair competition, the experts said.
“Europe consumers enjoy a competitive broadband market because of what the cable sector has done in the past ten years. As an industry, we are used to making large-scale investments but we need to ensure that we are free to make these investments on a level competitive playing field . Telcos are running now because we are chasing them,” said Rodrigo Costa, CEO, Zon.
As well as investing further in digital TV services, it was also predicted that cable operators would continue to evolve in 2012. “Our three growth drivers are our core voice and data business, video, where we are seeing revenues double whenever we move a customer over from analogue to digital, and mobile, which we will continue to develop through capital-light, measured investments such as MVNOs,” said Fries.
On the question of whether advances in next generation wireless technology could present a challenge to the cable industry, the panel agreed that in a world where internet devices will soon outnumber human beings, with most mainly consumed in the home, the ability to provide fast bandwidth is crucial.
“Everything goes through the wi-fi network in the home: it makes no sense to get your content slowly and more expensively through a mobile network when a fat pipe can deliver everything faster and more efficiently. That said, not everybody needs 100mbps and the cable industry needs to think about what products and services it can offer,” said Fries.
For more information, please contact:
Gregg Svingen
Director of Communications
M: +32 476 490 603
E: [email protected]
Jessica Fernandez
Information Manager
E: [email protected]
About Cable Europe
Cable Europe is a trade association that groups all leading broadband cable TV operators and their national associations throughout Europe. The aim of Cable Europe is to promote and defend the industry’s policies and business interests at European and international levels, and to foster cooperation among its members. Cable networks go into the home of 73 million customers in the European Union, providing Digital TV, Broadband Internet and Telephony services.
