[IRONY] Cable Competition

dahamsta

ENN

The [Financial Times] says that cable companies could be subject to new European Commission regulations preventing them from dominating the market for high-speed Internet. Draft plans seen by the Financial Times would give national regulators the power to crack down on cable companies' Internet activities, placing cable companies on a par with telecoms companies. The financial difficulties experienced by many cable operators mean the proposed new rules are unlikely to have a major impact in the short term, but the regulations could limit cable companies' growth in the Internet in years to come.

Yeah EC! Yeah! Come over here and sort out the domination of the high-speed Internet market by the cable companies! Yeah. Uh, yeah...

zynaps

Yeah, no cable companies here can compete with ntl's widely available, well-marketed and constantly growing fast cable internet network... it's just not fair!

Well, one part at least is true - noone is competing...

[statement of the obvious]ntl included[/edit]

zynaps

SkepticOne

At last, something that is being got right in Ireland.

crawler

Hmmm.

I dont think cable Companies see future revenue generation from TV broadcast in any form.

The revenue generation will come from Broadband.

.......and I'll put the house on that.

parasite

except chorus, who have no future at all

bk

Originally posted by crawler
Hmmm.

I dont think cable Companies see future revenue generation from TV broadcast in any form.

The revenue generation will come from Broadband.

.......and I'll put the house on that.

I agree, World + Dog is changing over to Sky Digital, I recently spoke to an ex-cable installer who is now installing Sky Dig, he said that they can barely keep up with the demand from people changing from NTL to Sky.

BB and perhaps telephone over copper are cable companies only hope of competing.

I just goes to show how little NTL care about the Irish market, they are just here to milk the market dry, to help pay for their British service. I wish their license was pulled and given to a company that might compete.

Of course it is also the ODTRs fault for not including BB as a license requirement.

MDR

I wish their license was pulled and given to a company that might compete.

As crapy as they are (the company and the cables),
they are owned by NTL. Changing the licensee would just
make a bad mess even worse.

NTL are screwed and how no interest in Ireland ... none ... nadda ... ziltch ....

Ardmore

Originally posted by bk
Of course it is also the ODTRs fault for not including BB as a license requirement.

NTLs license required them to upgrade their infrastructure to provide a digital service to a large part of their customer base. The ODTR intended that this cover Cable Internet access (and it has, in the areas that NTL has met their license requirements).
But NTL have just claimed an inability to do it, and the ODTR hasn't been able to do anything about it.

http://www.odtr.ie/docs/pres210801.doc

spongebob

Comreg DID assume that Digital grade cable would be bi-directional and would mean the introduction of Cable modems as a desirable by-product. The linkage is correct in the sense that one would presumably lead to another and would not have to be included as a licence condition. Comreg also gave the operators 'platform exclusivity' in the late 90's meaning that they would be protected from competition in their francise areas from other Cable Operators.

In October 2002, after listening to the NTL Béal Bocht for over a year, Comreg told them to make their digital targets WITHOUT the return leg on bi-directional cable.....seeing as they had stopped their Capex on same.

They also told them to provide a MMDS Digital service across all their franchise areas by early June 2003.

M

crawler

MDR - I nearly always agree with your point of view but I completely disagree with that one......still , no point in having the bun fight over it, NTL ( and Chorus for that matter ) have a hell or a lot to prove - proof of the pudding etc etc....

Calibos

I just goes to show how little NTL care about the Irish market, they are just here to milk the market dry, to help pay for their British service. I wish their license was pulled and given to a company that might compete.

Like I keep on saying, I don't believe competition works in this country. Either where domestic companies are concerned or foreign. I can just imagine cartel like practices being discussed at the Blackrock or Rockwell (or any exclusive school) past pupils get together. We are such a small country that all these Managing Directors and CEO's all went to bloody school or college together.

As for foreign competition. PAH!! The dont look at Ireland and say "My God the poor Irish consumer is being ripped off. We can enter that market, charge the European average, take over the market and make a mint" No no, more like, "My God look at what the Irish are willing to pay. We can undercut the Irish competition by a fraction and take a huge market share but we'll still be generating a revenue per customer figure magnitudes greater than our continental customers.