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Cable giant Liberty Global may the two largest Dutch cable networks, Ziggo and UPC, merge into é! É n & lsquo; SuperZiggo & rsquo ;, a network that reaches 90 percent of Dutch households. Yesterday, the EU approval for the acquisition of Ziggo
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Cable giant Liberty Global may the two largest Dutch cable networks, Ziggo and UPC, merge into one ‘SuperZiggo’, a network 90 reaches percent of Dutch households. Yesterday, the EU approval for the acquisition of Ziggo.
In January this year made Liberty Global announced that Ziggo wanted to take over for an amount of EUR 10 billion, two-thirds in equities. Though almost all Dutch houses a cable Ziggo or UPC, 70 percent of residents actually takes off a service, such as TV or internet.
The new Ziggo (this brand will remain) has 4.4 million customers. Ziggo (3300 full-time jobs) achieved last year a turnover of 1.6 billion; UPC Netherlands 935 million.
Liberty Global is a British-American group that is largely in the hands of the American cable magnate John Malone. He creates a pan-European network of cable networks, except where UPC Netherlands also Belgian Telenet and the British Virgin Media are part. Liberty Global also operates cable networks in Germany, Poland, Austria and Romania.
Investors have until November 4th time to offer them. Ziggo share for 35.64 euro The acquisition goes through as Liberty Global has built more than 80 percent an interest. How many shareholders so far made use of that offer is not known – Liberty had leading up to the merger had been an interest of nearly 30 percent built. The actual acquisition should take place. Late this year
Is the cable still open?
The EU sees no objection in a takeover. It assumes, however, that Liberty Global pay-channel Film1 sells. The other pay-TV channel, HBO Netherlands, is a joint venture of Ziggo and UPC, need to. Not repelled The cable company should also not prevent TV stations to offer over the internet, interactive TV services they already competing with the products offered by the cable company.
Competitors are afraid that the empire of John Malone (via include Liberty Media has interests in many TV channels) is too great a power block. According to the Competition Commission is changing the consumer nothing like the two cable companies go together; Ziggo and UPC each operate in their own area. The committee ignores the discussion of the closed cable infrastructure, which allows no competitors.
KPN, the main competitor of the cable companies, must allow its network competitors and finds that “SuperZiggo ‘too light conditions has been given for the merger. Imposed But the final word on competition has not yet spoken. A new market analysis of the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Appears in a few weeks It sets the rules revisited, assuming a merger between Ziggo and UPC.
KPN wants deregulation
KPN issued a call for deregulation of fixed networks yesterday. The company wants to get rid of the mandatory pricing on the resale of services and to decide how much discount it gives to its own customers.
The most likely scenario is that the ACM cable companies will impose additional regulations. Perhaps the cable will therefore still ‘open’. Of Vodafone could benefit: the company announced last week that it wants to offer television across the country. That can now only over fiber and DSL network, soon perhaps through the cable.
Ziggo rents, in turn, Vodafone network in order to offer. Mobile telephony However, the cable industry believes that the competition already has access to the networks, for example in the form of online video services such as Netflix and YouTube.
What changes for the customer?
UPC customers will soon be a service provided under the Ziggo brand. Will change little else for them. Ziggo customers will eventually be able to make it to the set-top box Skyline of Liberty Global. Transition Ziggo customers can now choose what device they buy themselves at UPC customers pay rent.
Liberty Global insists not the same standard; Britain remain customers preliminary look at the Tivo set-top box. The choice of the type of device becomes less important as more video services are transferred to web servers – the cloud.
Probably the cable companies will link their Wi-Fi networks quickly. Both UPC and Ziggo use modems customers as hotspots for internet access, which you can use the internet and watching TV remotely.
The biggest source of concern is the merging of the IT systems. That made five years ago at Ziggo – an amalgamation of three cable companies – for congested helpdesks. Because the administration was a mess Ziggo, the introduction of new services proposed for a time out. Such delays can make a technological disadvantage especially when you consider that Ziggo has had to freeze. Already several projects in the run of this merger
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