Bluewin TV in the red until at least 2009
Swisscom subsidiary Bluewin TV expects to continue posting losses for another two years. According to Swisscom Fixnet CEO Ueli Dietiker, the service is currently installed in 30,000 to 40,000 households. He does not expect competing services to emerge until 2008 at the earliest.
The Swisscom subsidiary Bluewin TV expects to remain loss-making for some time to come. "In the next two years", Swisscom Fixnet CEO Ueli Dietiker told the Handelszeitung newspaper, the television division "will certainly not be in the black". In order to break even, the company needs 200,000 to 250,000 customers. With the current number of new registrations per month, this threshold will not be reached until the end of 2009 at the earliest. The highest hurdle is the average installation cost of CHF 1,400 per TV customer. These also prevented an aggressive advertising campaign for Bluewin TV, which was launched last November. "Before we go full throttle again, we want to optimize our costs," Dietiker continued. According to Swisscom CEO Carsten Schloter, the target is around CHF 500 per TV customer.
Television is currently installed in "30,000 to 40,000 households". According to Dietiker, 1000 to 2000 households are added every week. If things continue at this pace, the 100,000 customer mark will not be reached by the end of the year.
It will also be some time before Swisscom's competitors have their own offers on the market - although Swisscom's monopoly on the last mile of copper lines from the telephone exchange to the home connection was abolished at the beginning of April. "I expect broader offerings towards the end of 2008," said Dietiker. In an interview with the Handelszeitung newspaper, Dietiker predicts that there will be no nationwide offers with complete unbundling either way: "Everyone will cherry-pick and concentrate on the lucrative centers."
Television is currently installed in "30,000 to 40,000 households". According to Dietiker, 1000 to 2000 households are added every week. If things continue at this pace, the 100,000 customer mark will not be reached by the end of the year.
It will also be some time before Swisscom's competitors have their own offers on the market - although Swisscom's monopoly on the last mile of copper lines from the telephone exchange to the home connection was abolished at the beginning of April. "I expect broader offerings towards the end of 2008," said Dietiker. In an interview with the Handelszeitung newspaper, Dietiker predicts that there will be no nationwide offers with complete unbundling either way: "Everyone will cherry-pick and concentrate on the lucrative centers."
