Cable merger revives telecom sector calls for access to network

[BBKing]

Hmm - not sure that counts, as presumably all Sky have to do if one of their client companies gets really competitive is hike the price or pull the scheme. The key is regulatory control to prevent such anti-competitive measures.

Just becuase a company is not financially sound (which is very much a situation of their own making) is not a reason to not regulate.

The only reason to regulate is to *increase* competition, if the effect is to reduce competition by making ntl/TW spend a fortune opening their network, it has the opposite effect. That, to my mind, is a perfectly sound reason not to regulate. You don't find people clamouring for Scottish crofters or East End allotment holders to open up their land for free access.

Oh, and BT, compared to ntl/TW, have had the great benefit of being the incumbent monopoly telephone provider, makes profits in nine figures every year, didn't go bust building its network, wasn't saddled by debt and has a colossal income. If ntl/TW get to being remotely in the same position, go ahead and open it up (it's more people who'll employ me for a start ).

[Chrysalis]

Found this out from a friend in the us but not researched it.

But according to him cable companies in the us just do broadband and tv and not phone so it isnt triple play. The big difference that this make's is cable isp's have to make sure that their service is better since it is so much easier for customers to move to dsl as the phone line is already in place, whilst here many customer's wont move simply because of the hassle involved and other restrictions. US also has opened up cable networks with competition between cable isp's, the result is they have better packages offered and very few have caps.

[SMHarman]

However they are now offering tripleplay by providing what they brand as "digital telephone" which is VoIP telephone so now you can ditch the telephone line and just have a cable line connected to your house and a full triple play service.
The CATV service is opened up in that you have multiple VOD channels, the menus look the same, they just have the providers logo in the corner so you have a TCM VOD, TimeWarner VOD, etc.
BB is opened up so you can get multiple providers of BB on the cable network, but only the network owner currently can offer triple play pricing

[Kumagoro]

If they are forced into that will network expansion increase?

How much does NTL's network increase in a year anyway? Will
Telewest and NTL joining makes any difference?
Around where I live there is no expansion as far as i can tell even
on new builds even when the cable network is surrounding it.
Yet you can always get BT... why is that?
Everyone i know who has a choice between DSL and NTL choose
NTL for broadband.

[Chrysalis]

Its not something that will bankrupt NTL, the competitors will have to pay NTL a price which NTL will choose for the ability to use NTL's network, it will just mean their will be reseller's of NTL's services.

[BBKing]

which NTL will choose

To be fair, this would have to be a price open to challenge by the operators. Private monopolies are Bad Things, as are private companies having sole control over any segment of a market.*

the menus look the same, they just have the providers logo in the corner so you have a TCM VOD, TimeWarner VOD, etc

Hmm - sounds like the same technology with different branding. Not true competition at all, which implies the same company having control over the cost of everything from billing through to the cable into your house. This is the limitation everyone who's tried to add competition to a network has eventually hit - the mark of the wise man is that one who's realised this early enough.

* This is a core point of what isn't becoming widely known as BBKingism.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by andygrif

It was pretty difficult for BT too, as well as financially dangerous, which is why they ran interference and delaying tactics for many years before being forced into action.

Just becuase a company is not financially sound (which is very much a situation of their own making) is not a reason to not regulate.

If that company then folds as a result of regulating that market, then, regardless of whose fault it is, the amount of competition in the market is reduced, which is against the point of regulating the market.

You should bear in mind that Sky does in fact open up its network to competitors, technically. They are very cheeky in the way they do it, by charging astronomical amount of money for using their conditional access module, which then prevents anyone from doing it, but it is technically possible to run competing services on the Sky platform.

If I understand Satellite Technology correctly, Sky actually have no control who broadcasts on Astra satellites (and, therefore, can broadcast to Sky dishes). They do have (and exercise) control over who appears on the EPG, and in their packages. In this way, TBH, they open their platform as much as NTL do the DTV platform. In short, with both platforms, anyone with access to the right facilities, people and cash can set up their own channel on either of the two platforms.
__________________

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

Its not something that will bankrupt NTL, the competitors will have to pay NTL a price which NTL will choose for the ability to use NTL's network, it will just mean their will be reseller's of NTL's services.

AOL already do this, so obviously, NTL are willing for other companies to access their network given the right price.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by BBKing

Hmm - sounds like the same technology with different branding. Not true competition at all, which implies the same company having control over the cost of everything from billing through to the cable into your house. This is the limitation everyone who's tried to add competition to a network has eventually hit - the mark of the wise man is that one who's realised this early enough.

* This is a core point of what isn't becoming widely known as BBKingism.

Yes, the billing will appear on the same bill, the pricing does differ per VoD stream, so TCM has a cheaper movies than the just out of Cinema Vod stream and in the middle is the HBO streams.

At the moment on the NTL platform they would all be bundled into one large channel 0 though.