Cable top-line growth up 5.9%
March 12, 2014
Colin Mann @ Cable Congress
Cable investments in high-speed broadband connections and new service platforms drove top-line revenues across Europe up 5.9 per cent to €21.9 billion in 2013, according to new IHS statistics released by Cable Europe, the industry’s trade association, at Cable Congress 2014 in Amsterdam. The more than €1 billion increase in annual revenues benefited from 9.1 per cent growth in broadband revenues, 6.5 per cent growth in telephony revenues and a greater share of TV revenues now digital (more than 70 per cent) than ever before.
Cable Europe President Manuel Kohnstamm said the past year had seen significant transformation and change in the industry. “All of us feel good about cable’s ability to grow through those cycles. As our customers increasingly go digital, over-the-top and outside the home, cable is positioned as the future of entertainment” he declared.
The cable sector has received positive attention lately with the announcement of acquisitions and IPOs. The consolidation of the sector is a necessary step for fuelling cable companies’ competitive moves in a very dynamic environment. Demanding consumers, new technologies, very aggressive telecom operators and agile OTTs are constantly reinventing the market.
“Cable is a shining star at a time when Europe’s leaders are calling for more investment in digital infrastructure to connect our continent,” said Cable Europe Executive Chairman Matthias Kurth.“We continue to attract European consumers with a truly unparalleled connectivity platform. While digital TV subscribers now make up the majority of TV subscriptions in Europe, converting the remaining 25.9 million analogue customers is one of cable’s many long-term runways to growth.”