UK quad play operator Virgin Media has put off its move to shift into IPTV services to reach beyond the homes its cable passes, to take on the rest of the UK. It reckons that it will take another year before it is ready with a quad play that can be offered all over the UK.
The company, built around the cable empires of NTL and Telewest, combined with Virgin Mobile UK, has put these plans into place, offering ADSL2+ instead of DOCSIS 2.0 cable modems, using the multicast ready Cable and Wireless ISP network to deliver the same cable programming, but over IPTV. That service will now go on ice until 2009.
The new interim CEO Neil Burkett has said that he needs to focus on existing core offerings, and not go chasing too many new ideas.
Two weeks ago Virgin reported that its changed strategy under Burkett was working, revealing figures that showed an increase in customers of 13,000 last quarter compared to losing 70,300 this time last year.
This was achieved by going after broadband sign ups, instead of TV sign ups, while it fixes its TV line up, something it is also doing fast given that its dispute with BSkyB over content carriage charges is not expected to be solved soon.
When the dispute first came to the fore investors looked to the private equity community to buy out Virgin Media and make peace with Sky, but the sub-prime mortgage scandal in the US came to its rescue, making debt more difficult to come by and the private equity community temporarily unable to respond.