BT Wholesale will launch IPStream Max, a rate adaptive ADSL product, on 31st March 2006, providing a downstream data rate greater than 6.5Mbit/s – a line speed that should support a wider range of good-quality video applications – to 25% of UK telephone lines

We believe that its focus on 3G is to blame, and the company seems poised to repeat this mistake with a focus on the latest industry fad, convergence 

Sharp rise in EBITDA margin to 31% in 2005 as Free increases the share of unbundled (on-net) subscribers from 53% to 70% and retains tight control of marketing spend in the 'landgrab' for customers in France

The new management is teeing up the core UK business for a successful turnaround 

This companion report to UK TV VOD [2005-24] concludes that the number of PC-based video-on-demand (VOD) services in the UK is set to explode in the near future. Rising broadband penetration, to 35% of UK homes at the end of 2005, is leading every major content owner, aggregator, broadcaster, service provider, and network operator to develop a PC VOD service. Will this response to the interest in personalised media consumption enable the PC to take over from the TV as the main source of video entertainment? The short answer is no, although we expect the market for PC-delivered VOD to grow dramatically in the next 2-3 years.

Sky Italia subscriptions, now totalling 3.71 million, have increased by almost 0.5 million subscribers in the last year. Low SACs, low churn, and yet high ARPU, show that Sky continues to benefit from strong natural growth in a pay-TV market that is experiencing a new lease of life thanks to the eradication of piracy post merger of Telepiu with Stream 

Broadband connections continued to increase strongly in the UK in Q4 2005 with 935,000 net additions, taking the UK total to just over 9.8 million connections and household broadband penetration to 35%. For 2005 as a whole, the UK broadband base rose by 60% - one of the fastest paces in Europe. Cable connections account for 27% of the broadband market with more than 99% of other connections provided via DSL.

Sound market fundamentals mean that the growth-based rationale for the bid should prove feasible 

Talk of a merger between the recorded music divisions of EMI and Warner Music Group to create the third largest recorded music group has been simmering for at least six months. After two failed attempts in the past six years, the logic of a merger continues to be strong and scale is an even more compelling objective given the continued difficult conditions in the recorded music market, despite rising digital sales in line with our forecasts. The question is when, not if and we believe that the time is fast approaching, judging by investment bank and private equity interest in the music publishing assets of each company.

We continue to expect group revenue growth to remain positive in spite of the impact of local loop unbundling

Mobile TV hype remains alive and well, but the DVB-H and DAB-IP standards are not progressing fast given a lack of European-wide spectrum

Vodafone’s discussions with Softbank to exit Japan could remove its most troubled and ill-fitting subsidiary, but only if the structure allows for a clean break, which will require tricky financial engineering given Softbank’s limited ability to pay

We estimate that savings for the typical French contract customer would actually be around 5%, and therefore not worth the extra handset cost and inconvenience involved 

C&W UK’s new Chairman John Pluthero’s turnaround strategy involves shedding 27,000 business customers and focusing on 800 of the largest accounts

Viability is a major concern. Although the Freeview channels and much of the on-demand content will be free, subscriber acquisition costs probably will exceed £200, while per subscriber on-demand revenues are unlikely to amount to much more than £1 or £2 per month 

Sogecable FY 2005 results recorded the first net profit (€7.7 million) since 2001, two and a half years after the merger with Vía Digital. With the after effects and restructuring costs of this merger behind it, the question we examine in this note is what growth can Sogecable's pay-TV business look forward to and what extra contribution will be made by the national free-to-air (FTA) analogue channel Cuatro, which launched on 7th November 2005?

Under rules agreed with the EC no one party could win all six packages. The surprise is that BSkyB has only won four, the other two going to Setanta. Although BSkyB has won the four ‘best-looking’ packages, it must pay an extra £97 million per annum for two thirds as many games 

Over the past 18 months, UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has seized on LLU as a catalyst for change, forcing BT to cut its LLU prices by up to 70%, separate its access services division from the rest of the business and commit legally to improve provisioning processes. Now the race is on to exploit LLU before growth in demand for broadband tails off, the merged NTL/Telewest emerges from restructuring and BT launches new services based on its ADSL2+ local loop upgrade and later, its £10 billion ‘Twenty-First Century’ network initiative. Two of the three surviving LLU pioneers have been sold to major players and AOL, Wanadoo, CarphoneWarehouse and BSkyB have all announced plans to implement LLU.