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BROADBAND INTERNET HAS BECOME
'KILLER APPLICATION FOR EUROPEAN CABLE INDUSTRY
EUROPEAN CABLE YEARBOOK 2002
TOTAL EUROPEAN CABLE REVENUES GENERATED 11.5bn AT YEAR END 2001
TELEPHONY, INTERNET AND SET-TOP BOX RENTALS NOW ACCOUNT FOR NEARY 22% OF TOTAL EUROPEAN CABLE REVENUE
CABLE INTERNET, DIGITAL TELEVISION AND CABLE TELEPHONY SERVICES ARE THE MAIN DRIVERS FOR THE TECHNICAL UPGRADE OF NETWORKS
According to the European Cable Yearbook 2002 just released by media analysts Screen Digest on behalf of the European Cable Communications Association (ECCA), the year 2002 has been an important one for the cable industry. The pace of change has been relentless and the shift in market values across the telecoms sector has forced many cable companies to change their priorities. As result, consolidation has been placed on hold, but the upgrading of networks is continuing. Guy Bisson the report author claims, The markets have forced a more measured approach to the execution of business plans, which has seen the cable industry step back from expensive technology upgrades. Many of those business plans were based on forecasts that were simply naοve in their bullishness. When the cable industry emerges from the dark days of the previous two years, it will have learnt many valuable lessons".
The cable industry has been actively restructuring its business in order to cut its debt burden. At the same time, the industry continued to increase its turnover by adding more subscribers and delivering a more diverse range of services with a particular focus on digital television.
Although conditions vary across the different European territories, the march to broadband, particularly the provision of high-speed Internet has continued apace. If there is one service that has emerged as the 'killer application for cable, then broadband Internet is it. And on the horizon, the developing technology of IP telephony is set to unleash as second.
The year 2001, witnessed a 14% increase in total gross revenues generated from European cable providers as compared to the previous year. By far the largest market generating in excess of 3.2bn is Germany. The UK ranks second with 2.9bn followed by France with just over 1bn.
The growth in subscriber take-up throughout Europe was up slightly by 4% in 2001 over the previous year. Germany led the way with a total cable subscriber base of 22.1m at year-end, followed by the Netherlands with 6.6m and Poland following closely with 5.2m. The UK ranks fifth with a total of 3.6m subscribers.
Cable Internet, digital television and cable telephony services have been the main drivers for the technical upgrade of networks. Proportionally, reach of these new services in many countries is still too low to produce meaningful penetration rates.
Digital cable television, by contrast, has not been seen as a killer application across most European countries. At year-end 2001, there were a total of 3.3m digital cable subscribers across Europe, although up 114% on 2000. Contrary to the proven popularity of cable Internet services across the Benelux group, digital cable subscriber take-up is led by the UK, having just fewer than 2m subscribers at the end of 2001. France followed with 664k subscribers.
In the cable telephony market, the UK again ranks well ahead of any other country in Europe with more than 4.2m cable telephony customers. Cable telephony is a much newer proposition in the rest of Europe. Spain has been the strongest new market for cable telephony. In fact, there are more customers in Spain taking cable telephony than cable television. In Italy only the new Fastweb offers telephony over its fibre-to-the-home network.
KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:
· The 15 countries of the European Union generated 10.1bn in revenue during 2001
· Television services are still the main contributor to cable revenues, accounting for 7.7bn in the European Union; 8.1bn in Western Europe; and 863.7m in Central and Eastern Europe
· Televisions overall contribution to cable revenue is in decline. Television services accounted for 75.7% of total European Union cable revenue in 2001, compared to 82.9% in 2000
· Cable Internet and telephony services are increasingly important generators of revenue for cable. Cable Internet accounted for nearly 6% of European cable revenues in 2001, up from less than 3% in 2000.Telephony accounted for 16.5% of revenues in Europe and up 12% from 2000
· At year-end 2001 there was a total of 62.7m cable subscribers in Europe, 47.7m being in the European Union
· At year-end 2001 cable Internet subscribers in the European Union reached 1.7m and 5.6m cable telephony subscribers
· Digital cable subscribers totalled 3.3m in Europe at the end of 2001
WORD COUNT: 755
EDITORS NOTES
The third annual European cable yearbook 2002, written and published by Screen Digest, presents a unique insight into the European cable market and provides an analysis of 23 countries and the state of their cable market. An executive summary of the report is available to press only on request. The report contains over 170 pages of text, and 300 charts and tables. Interviews with the author of this report can be arranged on request. The report costs 995 / $1595 and can be ordered by emailing sales@screendigest.com or visit our website at www.screendigest.com
ABOUT SCREEN DIGEST
Screen Digest is the leading market research company covering global and European markets in the entertainment media. Its monthly magazine, launched in 1971, is read by senior executives in over 40 countries. Screen Digest publishes a growing list of major reports on television, video, DVD, film, cinema, computer games, the Internet, the content markets and other aspects of the digital and interactive media. Screen Digest undertakes private client research for major international media companies, financial institutions and trade associations. A series of major online services with advanced search facilities deliver data, forecasts and analysis on all entertainment industries.
For more information on Screen Digests products and services please visit www.screendigest.com or contact sales@screendigest.com
ABOUT THE ECCA
The European Cable Communications Association is the trade grouping the European cable operators and their national trade associations. ECCA has 30 members in 17 countries. It also has three associate members in Central Eastern Europe. For more details visit www.ecca.be
MEDIA & PRESS CONTACT
For further information contact:
Elizabeth Phillipson,
Tel. 020 7424 2820 (London, UK) or
Tel. 416 815 0341 (North America, edt)
e-mail: elizabeth.phillipson@screendigest.com
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