Cable Europe, the powerful lobby group for the cable industry on the continent, has called for adjustments to the regulatory environment to allow further consolidation. Speaking at the Cable Congress today in Brussels, Cable Europe president Manuel…
Cable Europe, the powerful lobby group for the cable industry on the continent, has called for adjustments to the regulatory environment to allow further consolidation.
Speaking at the Cable Congress today in Brussels, Cable Europe president Manuel Kohlmann described existing approaches used by regulators to assess the competitive landscape as insufficient for current markets.
There is a need to look at market definitions, he said, adding that cablecos need the “critical mass” to compete sufficiently with other big players. “We will see further clustering in the industry,” Kohlmann predicted.
While saying that the cable industry is in better shape than ever before, thanks to investments made in previous years, he also pointed at fierce competition from new players such as Google and Apple.
Scale is not part of a poker game aimed at creating empires, Kohlmann said, but scale is essential to compete successfully with those other players.
Speaking about European plans for fibre rollout across the union, the head of the trade group said Cable Europe was supportive of EU ambitions. He questioned, however, if bringing down copper network access prices would stimulate fibre deployment.
Kohlmann’s comments come only days after attacks on EU regulation by telcos. At last month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the CEOs of several operators criticised the regulatory framework.
Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao accused regulators of “continuous intervention”, while Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann called on regulators to be more supportive of the industry.
In a written statement directed at Vodafone, Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, said: “I call your bluff, and indeed do not respond well to threats.”
Kroes said that she wanted the mobile sector to have more spectrum and a bigger market, but added that “a fair competition in roaming is a good exchange for those opportunities”.
