Vodafone’s recent takeover of KDG and Virgin Media’s agreement with Netflix are just two examples of the fact that the cable industry is on the winning side, according to Matthias Kurth, executive chairman, Cable Europe.
Speaking in a panel discussion at the IP Cable World Summit entitled “What is the impact of multiscreen on cable business models?” he added that it is a misconception that cable is a dying business.
It has customer relationships and broadband connections much better than those offered by DSL.
Thanks to the latter, it is now even picking up subscribers in Germany.
Kurth said was of the view that it would be stupid to block such services as Netflix and that there would be more alliances between OTT players and cable.
He gave the example of HBO GO, which has partnered up a number of operators in CEE.
Kurth also said his main concern was copyright, with the landscape being every fragmented throughout Europe and being a “hurdle we have to overcome”.
Speaking in the same session, Adrian Jezina, member of the board for multimedia, cloud and fixed access at Vipnet, said that his company’s biggest task was to provide customers with a seamless experience via different platforms.
He also said that Vipnet had already partnered up with several OTT players including HBO Go, Voyo and RTL Group locally.
