How BSkyB Uses Triple Play to Save Satellite TV

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Archive - 8/20/07

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August 20, 2007

How BSkyB Uses Triple Play to Save Satellite TV

Will Google Use the 700MHz Spectrum to Drive Mobile Ad Dollars?

Central Asia: Altimo Aims for Leadership
Rethinking Mobile Telecom Business Models: Wind/H3G Tower Sale in Italy and Network Sharing in Spain
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Featured Insight How BSkyB Uses Triple Play to Save Satellite TV Dan Locke, Analyst Triple play is not exclusive to telcos and cable players. DirecTV already resells broadband from AT&T, Verizon, and Quest under their respective names. However, this week, DirecTV hooked up with Current Group LLC to offer powerline broadband under the DirecTV brand name. We don’t know about powerline stuff, but there certainly is a precedent for a satellite company using triple-play bundles to sustain the satellite TV business. DirecTV need only look to Sky in the UK. Sky’s triple-play pricing is aggressive: the company appears to greatly undercut the competition with a Â£15 triple-play package (labeled See, Speak, Surf) in which phone and broadband are "free" with a TV subscription. (a British Telecom line rental is required to receive those additional services). A closer look at the approach suggests an effort to protect the core, TV content, while seemingly commoditizing the rest. Read the full article Pyramid Prediction: Exclusive content has a cost, and reselling broadband at a loss is not the most attractive option. As Sky’s initial numbers and DirecTV’s move indicate, service bundling at least offers a glimpse of hope for satellite TV survival in a multiplay world. Read the full article

Pyramid Premium Analysis Will Google Use the 700MHz Spectrum to Drive Mobile Ad Dollars? No stranger to the spotlight, Google has repeatedly attracted attention as a possible albeit nontraditional participant in the US auction for 700MHz spectrum set to take place by the beginning of 2008. Google had intended to bid $4.6bn if its four conditions were met. The FCC has only agreed to two at this point. Read the full article Pyramid Prediction: We believe Google needs to enter the mobile broadband market in order to help propel the explosive growth required to maintain its $161bn market cap. Combined with its core competencies of search, applications, and advertising, Google may soon add new puzzle pieces to expand its core business – providing universal access to information in exchange for targeted-advertising dollars. Read the full article Central Asia: Altimo Aims for Leadership TeliaSonera announced on July 9^th that it had reached a deal to buy MCT Corp, a US-based telecom company that had established several mobile businesses in Russia and Central Asia in the 1990s. The move by TeliaSonera to acquire MCT is the latest event in the increasingly busy M&A landscape of Central Asian telecom. Read the full article Pyramid Prediction: We expect to see more M&A activity in Central Asia in the next couple of years, with two players coming out on top: Moscow-based giant Altimo and Stockholm-based TeliaSonera. Read the full article Rethinking Mobile Telecom Business Models: Wind/H3G Tower Sale in Italy and Network Sharing in Spain Wind Telecomunicazioni teamed up with H3G (3 Italia) to jointly sell their telecom towers in Italy while retaining ownership of the equipment installed on the sites. Interested parties include private equity houses Texas Pacific Group, CVC Capital Partners, and Apax Partners as well as specialized infrastructure operators. The decision follows a number of recent agreements involving network sharing in Western Europe. Read the full article Pyramid Prediction: Wind’s decision is part of a broader trend in infrastructure management. A high degree of vertical integration, necessary when the industry was in the early stages of deployment, is now increasingly undesirable. Mobile operators should look to the broadcasting infrastructure market for potential partners and business models. Read the full article

Pyramid Research Product Updates: Research Reports: Rethinking MVNO and MVNE Economics The Global Mobile Capex Index Can Video on Demand Save IPTV? Country Intelligence Reports: Nigeria Intelligence Report Iran Intelligence Report Market Perspectives: eMobile, a New Player in the Japanese Market, Makes Business out of Business Sprint and Clearwire: a Dash for an Unclear WiMAX Future New Mobile Players in Panama Will Bring More Competition and Lower Prices


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