5 - 7 March 2013: The Lancaster Hotel, London

Manuel Kohnstamm’s Cable Congress 2011 Opening Speech

Dear Cable friends, ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to our 2011 annual show amidst the majestic Alps of Switzerland.

The mountain peaks you see around you here are the result of the collision of tectonic plates, pushed with great pressure, landmass against landmass, to reach some of the highest peaks in the world. That’s why we coined the phrase ‘Techtonic Forces’, for our show this year.

We want the world to know that cable is pushing the communications industry to new peaks of performance.
Thanks for coming again in big numbers! I am told we are beyond 850, which is a great score, given the heavy competition we are facing this year from the mobile guys in Barcelona.

But hey, that is what competition is all about. Performing in demanding markets for demanding consumers. And that’s what we are doing, better every year. The cable industry already showed steady growth through the economic crisis in past years, but we are now really jumping ahead in performance.

You can all be proud of what has been achieved in 2010.

Top line growth of 6% to almost 19 billion Euro, growing Digital TV revenues by 23%, double digit subscriber growth for all three product lines and passing the 100 million RGU mark are just a few of those achievements.

We are sending competitive shock-waves through Europe.

The long march of the 100Mb+ cable broadband products, in nearly all of the cable markets in Europe has really turned up the heat on our competitors.

And we’re not stopping there. Just look at the recent successes with KDG in Hamburg and Cablecom in Zurich breaking the 1Gb speed barrier.. the fresh news in this region about Cablecom acing the 1GB trial: They hit 1.4Gbit/s, which is an unofficial world record.

So, yes, We mean business.

I remember at one of our previous Cable Congresses in Madrid when Virgin Media’s CEO Neil Berkett said that we had a window of opportunity of a few years with cable broadband speeds surpassing those of competitors.
Well, with these successful tests at 1 and 1.4Gb we have just thrown those windows wide open for another good number of years.

But what I found most remarkable is the new energy we are all seeing in our core television markets. Years of dedicated investments in HD, VOD and interactive television have set the massive European analogue cable subscriber base in motion.
Long a silent block of customers famous for its intransigence, the vast majority of European consumers is now rapidly embracing the new intelligent television.

And once that group starts moving, as you all know, everything moves: Broadcasters are moving as they are more inclined to schedule dedicated HD and interactive programming, our vendors are moving as they scale the technology and make better and cheaper gear, and our customers are moving as they embrace new services and inspiring us to keep on innovating.
The European consumer knows that digital TV is the future and a fun place to be.

More than critical mass, this is “critical motion”, an unstoppable momentum in a positive direction.
New companies are emerging, specialising in interactive television content, and broadcasters are actively inspired to create new programming concepts.

All around us, you see signs of this fundamental transition, making companies like KDG, ONO, Virgin Media, ComHem or Liberty Global cool places to work.

In all of our companies young professionals are brimming with energy and ambition. They are mastering new areas of excellence in marketing, technology, social media and customer care.

In short, a very positive working environment. And that means a lot these day.

Even in our interaction with the policy makers of Europe, we see a lot of ‘positive vibes’ these days.

In a debate I joined in the European Parliament two weeks ago, Commissioner Kroes challenged all of us in the telecom industry to help her achieve the European digital agenda.

One of the things I like about the ‘Digital Agenda’ as a concept, and the way Vice President Kroes is using it, is that it rightly inspires Europe to think about investment and innovation in terms of a ‘can do’ attitude.

The EU’s Digital Agenda builds on the things that really work well, and encourages all of us to show the best we have to offer – and then go further.

It took us a little while before the policymakers of Europe were ready to believe us, but we are now actually proving it.
And when it comes to the Digital Agenda, I testified to the European Parliament that already today we deliver over 30 Mbs to about half of Europe’s 220 million households. And by 2020 we should expect more than 55% of European households to have access to at least 100Mb services from cable.

Europe today is fortunate to be covered by at least two fixed and often three mobile broadband providers.

This is essential as Europe needs to compete for jobs, business orders, investments, research and development, on a world market.

In any market, telecom infrastructure competition is crucially important, as it creates a constant need to innovate. We could have stopped at 30 Mb , but we did not.

We are going to these incredible speeds beyond 1 Gb, because we can not take a single technology lead for granted. It’s part of our DNA to keep pushing it – and it’s why we are such an inconvenient threat to our competitors.

Those competitors will not sit still in the meantime. Europe’s telecom incumbents will re-start investments in fibre at some point. They will have to as they have been underinvesting in past years at 12%- compared to our 23% capital expenditure or CAPEX - as a percentage of revenue.

Together, in our tectonic clashes, I am convinced we will reach new peaks of connectivity, creating the best performing and largest IP infrastructure region in the world. Networks made of multiple fixed and mobile network operators carrying voice, video and data – whatever mix it takes to make it work, we’ll be there.

These networks will serve European consumers that are increasingly technology agnostic and more interested in digital lifestyle and experiences than the physical characteristics of the networks we build.

We know, in the end they could not care less.

Today our customers care about what social network or on-line community they belong to, how portable the digital product is that they are buying on their various devices, what kind of premium content they can see, and where.

I can assure you, that is also the way all of us are building our future digital products from the ultra high speed broadband and media gateways to interactive television. Our customers should feel a maximum freedom in using the networks, services, applications, communities, devices and content sources of their choice.

On any typical weekday in my 120Mb house, each of my four children is doing their homework online, chatting on Facebook, streaming music and watching TV all at the same time. This is a demanding generation who will never go back to the broadband dark ages below 100 Mbps.

What is even more promising to all of you, is the following:
A few weeks ago “The pirates of the caribean I” came by on our VOD system. My boys were sitting on the coach and that video was in both DVD and BluRay versions behind them on the bookshelf. Before I knew it though, they had activated the system and purchased the VOD, uuuh WHAT are you doing?!

Mmmmm, it is just so easy dad…

Convenience, is how we will make our business going forward, I rest my case.

This generation will ensure the creation of a new digital value chain that can boost growth in the EU’s digital economy, and we are ready to serve them.

So, let’s cut to the chase and get this party started.

We have a great line-up of speakers for you at Cable Congress this year, both from within and around the cable business. Really happy to have Bill Roedy from MTV with us today, as we have Paul Liau, the CEO of the famous US Cable Labs, to name only two of our guests.

I am sure you will fully enjoy the exchanges here on stage.

We are also looking forward to hosting all of you at the famous Cable Europe gala event tonight, which is a very special co-production this year between Switzerland’s main cable operator, Cablecom and the Kudelski group. A special word of thanks to Eric Tveter from Cablecom and Andre Kudelski, whose teams have worked so hard to make this a memorable evening.

Finally, please join me in a warm round of applause for the Cable Europe team led by Caroline van Weede and Peter Percosan whose relentless efforts have made sure that Cable Europe is an exceptionally visible industry group in Brussels today.

Thank you

Download the Press Release (PDF): Manuel_Kohnstamms_Cable_Congress_2011_Opening_Speech