Quote:
Originally Posted by Ignitionnet
Sky's EPG is open, this is enforced as part of their operating licence.
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Given that Virgin Media's predecessors both went through bankruptcy protection and debt for equity swaps this is debatable and within VM's passed areas there is no way that replicating their network could be done financially viably as the market is saturated. To be viable a new entrant would need to capture nearly half of the customer base in the area. The penetration of altnet services in Europe is sub-20% and price pressures are heavy right now.
This same argument could be applied to BT in areas where they overlap Virgin Media, and to an extent is, however this only applies to the charges BT are allowed to levy in the areas all open access obligations remain.
Regardless being a monopoly isn't the issue, the question is one of Significant Market Power.
Do Sky have SMP within Pay TV - yes, which is why they are regulated.
Do BT have SMP - yes, which is why they are regulated.
Do Virgin Media have SMP - within their passed areas clearly yes, however Ofcom side-step this by taking their market share nationwide.
Kingston Communications have regional SMP while VM don't. There are a number of contradictions however cable has been favoured since its conception.
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Do you think it's because Ofcom want a strong competitor to Sky and if they allowed others to use VM's network, this may water down VM's market share?