What are Liberty Global’s plans for Central and Eastern Europe?
Having studied the company’s latest set of results and listened to the investor call, I shortly afterwards found myself being asked by one of our readers when Horizon will become available in Slovakia.
I tried to answer the question by saying that it could well make its debut in Poland later this year, while Slovakia may have to wait until next year. However, in truth I was and remain just as much in the dark as the reader, not just about the Horizon rollout in CEE but Liberty’s plans as a whole for the region.
That in itself is not a criticism and the fact is there is much good to report on the UPC operations in CEE and their performance. Take Poland, for instance, where UPC Polska saw exceptionally strong growth in its digital TV take-up in the first quarter, gaining an additional 41,100 subscribers.
UPC DTH meanwhile continues to grow its subscriber base in all four markets it is present in despite facing strong competition. The best performing of these in Q1 was Hungary, where UPC Direct added 7,700 to its total.
Back in Poland, we have also learnt that UPC Polska has just launched a new internet product offering internet access at up to 250 Mbps.
That is more than keeping up with West European markets such as the Netherlands, though subscribers there will see the maximum speeds they can receive increase from the current 200 Mbps to 500 Mbps by the end of the year.
A telling statistic is that Liberty’s cable business in CEE accounted for only 10% of its consolidated revenues in the first quarter. Just as importantly, its rebased revenue growth in Q1 was only 1%.
The truth is that Liberty’s centre of gravity has shifted hugely westwards in the last couple of years, firstly through its acquisitions in Germany and now the UK’s Virgin Media. These, coupled with the importance of such lucrative markets as Switzerland and the Netherlands, mean that today Western Europe is very much Liberty’s focus of attention.
On the other hand, the CEE markets are still there and I’m sure will almost certainly remain important to Liberty for a long time to come.
