If Virgin have to open up their cable then Sky should open up their EPG!
Anyhow, why are we talking about Virgin when the thread is about Sky's excess profits? Shouldn't this be discussed on another thread?
---------- Post added at 09:39 ---------- Previous post was at 09:33 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ignitionnet
Oh I see, so being a monopoly is fine so long as you accumulated debt to get there?
The law and every other definition of a monopoly disagrees. Financial state is totally irrelevant to monopoly status. Virgin's debt is more than manageable according to their financial results.
Also of note is that a proportion of Virgin's debt is due to the acquisition of Virgin Mobile, most of the debt from acquisition of cable franchises. That's what the cost was, not the construction of them but overpaying on acquisitions, and most of this was wiped off in debt for equity swaps by ntl and Telewest.
Bad business decisions and being the poster child for the .com boom does not a company immune to monopoly status make.
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"Monopoly - Market situation where one producer (or a group of producers acting in concert) controls supply of a good or service, and where the entry of new producers is prevented or highly restricted. Monopolist firms (in their attempt to maximize profits) keep the price high and restrict the output, and show little or no responsiveness to the needs of their customers."
This is NOT what Virgin are doing by keeping control of their own cable - but IS what Sky are doing with the movie content!