Broadband & Internet
China’s online-video players face tough task in going ‘straight’
The decision by China’s leading online-video players, such as Tudou.com and Youku.com, to move toward a more orthodox business model by signing licensing deals with content providers and even beginning to produce some of their own content seems like good news for everyone. But there is a long way to go before any of the country’s online players can really claim to have “gone straight.” Read more »
Diversity is clear in Eastern European broadband
Having recently read Slavenka Drakulic’s marvellous and wholly wry little book Cafe Europa, I think it is worth noting the real differences that exist in the fixed broadband markets of all the countries in Eastern Europe. And that is the theme of Slavenka’s book: that culture matters and that generalisations are dangerous. Read more »
Portugal joins world FTTx elite…sort of
Portugal crept into the world’s elite group of broadband connected nations at the end of 2009. With 41,500 FTTH subscribers, just under 2% of Portugal’s broadband homes used FTTH at the end of last year and the measure of eliteness used by the FTTH Council Europe, is that more than 1% of connected homes must use FTTH/B. Read more »
Can OTT players really beat pay TV operators at their own game?
With the “over the top”-content game attracting IT giants, such as Apple and You Tube, huge regional players, like Tudou and Yukou in China, and many other global media brands, it’s not hard to imagine that the world’s pay-TV operators could get pushed aside in the battle for consumers’ wallets.
That is, until you take a step back from the hype and talk to hardened pay-TV executives, who say OTT players are in for a mighty shock if they think that getting subscribers to part with their hard-earned dollars in return for access to video content is anything but hard work. Read more »
Broadband in Bulgaria: the future for Vivacom
Deutsche Telekom (DT) would appear the obvious candidate to acquire Bulgarian incumbent Vivacom. The German telecoms group owns direct majority stakes in a few incumbents across Eastern Europe (Hungary, Slovakia), as well as indirect and minority stakes in others in the region. Vivacom is owned by AIG Investments, which is part of the wider AIG Group that was bailed out to the tune of billions of dollars by the American taxpayer. Insiders say AIG would be willing to sell, but any acquisition by Deutsche Telekom would by no means be plain sailing. Read more »
BT Q3 (Dec 09) Results: cut/paste BT Q2 Results
Ian Livingstone must have an autotext key on his laptop. This morning’s news release reads:
These results show that we are making progress. There is still a lot more to be done but our commitment to improved customer service and cost transformation is starting to deliver results
The news release on 12th November reads:
We have had another quarter of progress but there remains a lot more to do. With total cost reductions of over £900m in the first half, we have made significant headway towards our previous target of well over £1bn for the full year. We now expect to generate at least £1.6bn of free cash flow this year
TM jumps into IPTV market, but the odds of success are long
Telekom Malaysia ™ has finally decided to make the jump into IPTV, after several years of deliberating, but the operator looks almost certain to be fighting a losing battle to establish itself as a significant player in the country’s pay TV market. Read more »
The time is ripe for China to focus on a unified broadband plan
The completion of China Mobile’s long-running merger deal with fixed-line player China Tietong in December was the last piece of the jigsaw in the Chinese government’s restructuring of the country’s telecoms market. Now the government needs to figure out an orderly path for China Mobile to fully enter the broadband market. Read more »
KDDI makes move for J-Com, but the hard work is only just beginning
Japanese operator KDDI’s purchase of a 37.8% stake in Jupiter Telecommunications (J-Com) from US media giant Liberty Global came as no surprise to most watchers of Japan’s market, though the US$4 billion price tag – equating to a 65% premium on J-Com’s share price – certainly caused a few raised eyebrows. Read more »
Kosovo: Investment and growth already occurring
As part of the broadband team at Informa’s drive to cover all growth markets I have taken a careful look at some countries in the Balkan region. For the cineastes amongst you, it has been a voyage of discovery redolent of Harvey Keitel in Angelopoulos’ masterful Ulysees’ Gaze. Kosovo is one such market I have looked into and the evidence shows there is much potential.
Read more »
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