A failure to understand content has been a key factor in holding back telcos from becoming successful ‘mediacos’ according to Gerry O’Sullivan, Vice President of Global TV and Entertainment at Deutsche Telekom (DT). In a keynote address at the IP&TV World Forum, O’Sullivan admitted that telcos often struggled with the specific needs of content owners […]
Leading Canadian telco Bell is actively pursuing its strategy of delivering the best content across every broadband screen in Québec by acquiring Québec’s leading media company Astral in a $3.38-billion deal. Astral’s broad national media portfolio includes top-tier TV, radio, digital and out-of-home properties. The move follows its 2011 acquisition of CTV, Canada’s leading commercial […]
Spain’s largest cable company ONO remained in the black in 2011 for the third consecutive year. The company made a profit of €50 million, up 7.8 per cent on the previous year. Total revenues increased by 1 per cent to €1.485 billion and the EBITDA grew by 3.2 per cent to €348 million. The launch […]
Ziggo, the Dutch cable provider, will offer a fifth of the company’s outstanding shares in an initial public offering that could raise up to €745 million. The IPO will see private equity funds Warburg Pincus and Cinven – which created Ziggo by acquiring and merging three smaller cable networks in 2006 – selling off 35 […]
Belgian telco Belgacom has reported a strong performance for its TV operations in 2011, despite falling revenues and profits. The total number of subscribers to its ‘Belgacom TV’ IPTV service reached 1.211 million by the end of December, up 24 per cent from one year previously, with 72’000 coming in the 4th quarter alone. TV […]
The European Commission has released a study showing that, if the internal market for electronic communications were completed, the EU gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by up to €110 billion a year, or more than 0.8 per cent of GDP. The EC sees e-Communications as a critical part of overall efforts to build a […]
SES has renamed its satellite Internet subsidiary ASTRA Broadband Services as SES Broadband Services, with its satellite Internet service ASTRA2Connect similarly renamed SES Broadband. The new names are in line with SES’s new Corporate Identity and its consistent use for all SES companies. SES Broadband Services provides high-speed satellite broadband Internet for individuals, businesses and […]
Deutsche Telekom has reported a €1.3 billion loss for 2011 due to a drop in demand in Europe. It would have been worse had it not picked up €3.2 billion in compensation for the collapse of the AT&T deal. Deutsche Telekom did however further increase the number of subscribers to its IPTV service Entertain in […]
Belgian cable operator has Telenet reported full year revenues up six per cent year-on-year to €1.37 billion. EBITDA rose 8 per cent to €723.4 million while the margin advanced to 52.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the net profit fell 81 per cent to €16.8 million on the back of increasing losses on derivatives, higher depreciation costs, […]
Norway’s telco giant Telenor has reported some mixed results for its 2011 end-of-year numbers. The group’s broadcasting interests include satellites, encryption specialists Conax, and DTH broadcaster Canal Digital (which beams pay-TV channels to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark). Telenor’s annual profit halved in 2011, as higher costs dragged the firm into the red during the […]