[Peter_]

'No Walled Gardens': Virgin Media Sees TiVo As Cross-Platform Magic Glue

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/No-Wal....html?x=0&.v=1

UK cable telco Virgin Media’s average customer take climbed to a record £47.51 ($76.61) per month in Q4 - but that could boom when it launches TiVo (NSDQ:TIVO - News) and if it finally gets its quad-play strategy ticking.
TiVo users must pay £199 ($320.9) for the broadband-enabled TV box and an extra £3 ($4.84) per month on top of the most costly, XL TV package. Right now, only 12 percent of customers take mobile as well as TV, broadband and telephone.
“We’re a triple-play and we have a bit of mobile on the side,” Berkett conceded to analysts Thursday, saying quad-play ARPU could hit £80 ($129.01) per month. “We haven’t truly implemented the smartphone and tablet in to our offering. Therein lies the huge opportunity that exists for us.” He will start offering free mobile-to-landline calls for Virgin-to-Virgin households.
Berkett reckons Virgin has “a long-term sustainable network advantage” because its cable network beats copper-wire telcos with the UK’s fastest broadband speeds and integrated TV, in wired areas at least.