IZZI, the Latvian cable TV, internet and telephony services provider will start offering its customers 100 Mbps internet speeds in early April, according to Helmut Kohl of IZZI's owner Contaq Latvian Cable.
The company will use DOCSIS 3.0 technology to deliver this speed over existing cables as well as some direct optical connections. The internet access will be independent of and unaffected by watching cable TV or digital cable TV over the same connection.
Kohl hinted that once the high speed network was running successfully for a while, it would be possible to offer what amounts to a service level agreement (SLA) for private customers and small businesses. SLAs often specify that data throughput speeds will not fall below a certain level and IZZI is hoping to make such guarantees at a future date.
IZZI business development director Sandra Kraujiņa said in a Latvian-language video interview that IZZI will expand its own subscriber bas to 126 000 by the end of 2009 and aggressively look for acquisitions on the Latvian cable TV market (it has already bought six smaller operators last year). She said the purpose was to take the largest market share in Latvia, unseating Baltkom TV, which claims the leading spot today.
IZZI officials said the company had a "double digit millions of LVL" war chest for this purpose, but did not disclose the precise sum. This money will be spend in addition to extensive investment in upgrading and consolidating its network. In a Latvian-language video interview, Kraujiņa invited small and regional operators who wanted to sell their business to come to IZZI.
The company also announced that it was implementing a two-year long program of discounts for triple-play services (telephony, internet and cable TV service) for pensioners, the unemployed, students and the parents of newborns. While pensioners are unlikely to change their status, Kohl said that he was counting on other groups (persons finding employment, students completing their studies and going to work) to apply their discounts on a "fair use"basis.
2 comments:
Comcast says by early 2010 it will be offering many cable Internet customers bandwidth up to 100 Mbps - and some markets may get it in 2008.
Speaking at the Merril Lynch U.S. Media Conference in London, Comcast senior VP of investor relations Marlene Dooner said the company plans to offer cable Internet customers bandwidth up to 100 Mbps in most of its markets by early 2010—and some 20 percent of its markets may have the service by the end of 2008. In a not-unrelated forecast, Dooner also says Comcast expects to have converted analog television channels to digital in most of its markets by 2010—enabling the company to reclaim bandwidth currently used by those video signals—and expects 20 percent of its markets converted to digital by the end of 2008.
The U.S. is scheduled to terminate analog television broadcasts on February 17, 2009, meaning U.S. television viewers who receive television signals over-the-air with an analog television will need to purchase a digital TV or a relatively inexpensive digital tuner to use with their television. However, the FCC has mandated that most cable operators support analog television through 2012. However, cable companies have some leeway in how they can keep providing service, and are widely expected to encourage customers to switch to digital cable as quickly as possible, since cable operators will be allowed to drop analog signals—and reclaim their bandwidth—if all subscribers can handle digital signals.
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travis
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This is definitely good news for Latvia, especially now Telco’s worldwide are postponing their FTTx/H investments. However, the question is; are consumers ready for these speeds? If consumers are ready, it is a bold but quite smart move. Baltkom TV prices per mb are higher and offered speeds are lower. Additionally, IZZI is able to follow and increase competition with Latellecom.
Currently I am writing a report (for college) on the Baltic FTTx market, thus your view from the "inside" offers a welcome perspective. I would love to talk with you on the Latvian ISP/FTTx market, to compliment my report/thesis. If you like, you can contact me at 0627313moorsel@hszuyd.nl.
Keep up the good work,
Milos van Moorsel
0627313moorsel@hszuyd.nl
+31 6 460 944 71
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