Cablecom lowers prices for digital pay TV
The launch of Swisscom’s BluewinTV on November 1 is shaking up the digital pay-TV market. On Tuesday, competitor Cablecom responded to this market offensive and, following intervention by the price regulator, announced a drastic reduction in prices for its service and set-top box, effective April 2007.
The launch of Swisscom's BluewinTV on 1 November is dynamizing the market for digital pay TV. On Tuesday, competitor Cablecom reacted to the market offensive and announced a drastic reduction in prices for its offering. The set-top box will also be massively cheaper - in response to the intervention of the price watchdog. However, the prices are dictated to Cablecom in the form of a letter of intent from 2007 to 2009, as the price supervisor and Cablecom were unable to reach an amicable agreement. If these are adhered to, the price watchdog will refrain from initiating official proceedings for price abuse, said price watchdog Rudolf Strahm to the media in Bern on Tuesday. Cablecom, for its part, has promised to adhere to the tolerance limit and communicated the new prices on the same day.
New offer from April - immediate promotions From April 2007, the entry-level offer with up to 100 TV and radio stations will cost CHF 6 per month instead of the current CHF 15. The purchase price for the receiver with digital video recorder will fall from CHF 495 to CHF 150, Cablecom announced to the media in Zurich on Tuesday. The country's largest TV cable network operator is thus bowing to pressure from price watchdog Rudolf Strahm and launching a counter-attack on Swisscom, which had switched on its first Bluewin TV customers the previous day. Cablecom immediately countered with promotions and reduced the price of the two offers "Digital TV Recorder" and "Digital TV Receiver" by CHF 10 each for the first six months.
Strahm had criticized the prices for digital television as being too high. In the EU, reception devices (set-top boxes) can already be purchased for 50 to 80 euros. However, unlike the Swiss market leader, there is competition in the EU. Cablecom, on the other hand, encrypts its digital offering so that only its own devices can be used. With other Swiss network operators, however, customers can buy and use unencrypted set-top boxes in stores. The price watchdog therefore demanded that Cablecom either share the key with all manufacturers or massively reduce the prices for the devices. After months of talks, the price watchdog and Cablecom have now reached an agreement on prices for the next three years. The current agreement expires at the end of 2006.
Increased competition Since the beginning of November, Swisscom has been offering Bluewin TV Internet television with over 100 channels and a video library of over 500 films for CHF 29 per month (see
). With Cablecom's new offer, digital television enjoyment (with the CHF 21 for conventional analog TV) will cost a total of CHF 27 per month from April 2007. The price for the "Digital TV Recorder" (with recording function) will also be reduced to CHF 20 per month from this date. Cablecom is also planning to launch an offer for high-definition television (HDTV) and video on demand (VOD) in the second half of 2007. Analogue viewers finance digitization However, viewers of conventional analogue television will be asked to pay for the battle for digital TV. Cablecom is increasing the price for the basic analogue connection by CHF 1.50 to CHF 22.50 per month from 1.1.2008 in order to finance digitization. In addition, the program on conventional television will be further thinned out. In order to make more space for digital channels, further channels in the analog program will be switched off and moved to digital TV. Four to six channels will fall victim to the introduction of high-definition digital TV (HDTV) next year. A further four channels will be removed from the basic offering in 2008, with the number varying depending on the region and network standard. This means that in future, ordinary viewers will pay more money for significantly fewer channels.
Problems with the universal serviceCablecom has repeatedly caused red flags in the past. Just last month, the English channel BBC Prime and the Spanish TVE were removed from the analog program, while the Austrian channel ORF 2 was moved. The price watchdog took the opportunity on Tuesday to once again draw attention to the problem of encryption. Both Cablecom and Bluewin TV encrypt their channels for the purpose of vertical bonding. In a universal service, however, encryption should either be dispensed with or limited to the access card. The price watchdog called on the Federal Council to set a minimum number of 20 to 25 receivable channels for this universal service, both for the remaining analogue range and for digital transmission.
New offer from April - immediate promotions From April 2007, the entry-level offer with up to 100 TV and radio stations will cost CHF 6 per month instead of the current CHF 15. The purchase price for the receiver with digital video recorder will fall from CHF 495 to CHF 150, Cablecom announced to the media in Zurich on Tuesday. The country's largest TV cable network operator is thus bowing to pressure from price watchdog Rudolf Strahm and launching a counter-attack on Swisscom, which had switched on its first Bluewin TV customers the previous day. Cablecom immediately countered with promotions and reduced the price of the two offers "Digital TV Recorder" and "Digital TV Receiver" by CHF 10 each for the first six months.
Strahm had criticized the prices for digital television as being too high. In the EU, reception devices (set-top boxes) can already be purchased for 50 to 80 euros. However, unlike the Swiss market leader, there is competition in the EU. Cablecom, on the other hand, encrypts its digital offering so that only its own devices can be used. With other Swiss network operators, however, customers can buy and use unencrypted set-top boxes in stores. The price watchdog therefore demanded that Cablecom either share the key with all manufacturers or massively reduce the prices for the devices. After months of talks, the price watchdog and Cablecom have now reached an agreement on prices for the next three years. The current agreement expires at the end of 2006.
Increased competition Since the beginning of November, Swisscom has been offering Bluewin TV Internet television with over 100 channels and a video library of over 500 films for CHF 29 per month (see
). With Cablecom's new offer, digital television enjoyment (with the CHF 21 for conventional analog TV) will cost a total of CHF 27 per month from April 2007. The price for the "Digital TV Recorder" (with recording function) will also be reduced to CHF 20 per month from this date. Cablecom is also planning to launch an offer for high-definition television (HDTV) and video on demand (VOD) in the second half of 2007. Analogue viewers finance digitization However, viewers of conventional analogue television will be asked to pay for the battle for digital TV. Cablecom is increasing the price for the basic analogue connection by CHF 1.50 to CHF 22.50 per month from 1.1.2008 in order to finance digitization. In addition, the program on conventional television will be further thinned out. In order to make more space for digital channels, further channels in the analog program will be switched off and moved to digital TV. Four to six channels will fall victim to the introduction of high-definition digital TV (HDTV) next year. A further four channels will be removed from the basic offering in 2008, with the number varying depending on the region and network standard. This means that in future, ordinary viewers will pay more money for significantly fewer channels.
Problems with the universal serviceCablecom has repeatedly caused red flags in the past. Just last month, the English channel BBC Prime and the Spanish TVE were removed from the analog program, while the Austrian channel ORF 2 was moved. The price watchdog took the opportunity on Tuesday to once again draw attention to the problem of encryption. Both Cablecom and Bluewin TV encrypt their channels for the purpose of vertical bonding. In a universal service, however, encryption should either be dispensed with or limited to the access card. The price watchdog called on the Federal Council to set a minimum number of 20 to 25 receivable channels for this universal service, both for the remaining analogue range and for digital transmission.
