Ziggo
 |
|
| Type | Naamloze Vennootschap |
|---|---|
| Traded as | Euronext: ZIGGO |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Key people | Bernard Dijkhuizen (CEO) |
| Products | Cable television Digital television Broadband Internet Telephony |
| Revenue | € 1,536.9 million (2012)[1] |
| Net income |  € 192.8 million (2012)[1] |
| Owner(s) | Zesko Holding |
| Employees | 2,502 FTE (2012) |
| Website | ziggo.nl |
Ziggo is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing cable television (digital and analog), broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers.[2]
The company is the result of the merger between Multikabel, @Home Network, and Casema and launched officially on May 16, 2008. Its main competitors are KPN and CanalDigitaal. The other major Dutch cable operator is UPC Netherlands, which does not compete with Ziggo since their respective coverage areas do not overlap.
Most of the share capital is held by holding companies of two private equity firms: Cinven and Warburg Pincus.[3] These companies reduced their stake in Ziggo in 2013.[4][5] In March 2013 a 12,65% stake in Ziggo N.V. was aquiered by Liberty Global from Barclays PLC.[6]
Contents |
History [edit]
Private equity firms Cinven and Warburg Pincus[7] bought the three companies. In 2000 Multikabel (nl) was bought by Cinven; until then, the company had been mostly government-owned. In 2005 the company was sold again to Warburg Pincus. In 2013 the Ziggo cable network passed 4.211 million homes in the Netherlands.[8]
Cable television [edit]
Ziggo offers Analog and Digital Cable Television to 2.851 million subscribers of which 2.260 million watch digital. In recent years the number of analogue channels has been reduced to make more bandwidth available for digital HD channels.
Analogue and digital [edit]
Basic service is called TV Standaard and includes both analogue and digital channels, consists of about 60 digital (including 12 HD) and 25 analogue television channels, as well as 60 digital radio channels. It consists of all the major Dutch networks and some of the main networks of neighbouring countries. Additional TV and radio channels are available through "TV Plus" and "TV Extra" packages. Every package comes with Music Choice and XLnt Radio which offer 35 additional radio channels, as well as interactive Video On Demand services.
High-definition [edit]
Ziggo offers 12 HD channels include National Geographic Channel HD, Discovery HD & History HD. Two come with the subscriptions of premium film and sport services Film1 HD and Sport1 HD. The rest are part of basic service.
On 4 July 2009 the Dutch public broadcaster NPO started simulcasting Nederland 1, Nederland 2, and Nederland 3 in 1080i high-definition.[9] These public HD channels are part of basic service. Most of the programming in the early stages consists of upscaled versions of their parent channels as in time more programs will become available in HD. Nederland 1 HD was temporarily available from June 1 until August, 2008 to bring Euro 2008, 2008 Tour de France and the 2008 Summer Olympics in HD, the rest of the time will be an upscaled version of its parent channel.[10]
Technology [edit]
The digital television signal uses the DVB-C standard. Most standard-definition channels are encoded in MPEG-2 and most high-definition channels in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. All channels are encrypted with Irdeto2 and require an activated smart card to be decrypted. Customers can buy a certified set-top box or Integrated Digital Television with embedded Irdeto CA, which are sold by Ziggo and consumer electronic retailers. Additionally customers can buy any television with a DVB-C tuner and CI+ support with a Ziggo compatible conditional access module.
Broadband Internet [edit]
Ziggo offers broadband Internet access to 1.812 million subscribers in the following subscription forms:
| Subscription form | Download speed | Upload speed | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV + Internet Z1 | 8 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s | € 38.95 |
| TV + Internet Z2 | 40 Mbit/s | 4 Mbit/s | € 48.95 |
| TV + Internet Z3 | 80 Mbit/s | 8 Mbit/s | € 58.95 |
| Alles-in-1 Basis | 10 Mbit/s | 1 Mbit/s | € 43.95 |
| Alles-in-1 Plus | 60 Mbit/s | 6 Mbit/s | € 53.95 |
| Alles-in-1 Extra | 120 Mbit/s | 10 Mbit/s | € 63.95 |
With the introduction of EuroDOCSIS 3.0 across the broadband Internet network download speeds have been increased up to 120 Mbit/s except in area's where the network has not been adapted to the EuroDOCSIS 3.0 standard. The latest general speed increase was on 1 April 2012.
In the "test municipalities" of Amersfoort, Enschede, Heerhugowaard, Maastricht, Meppel, Tilburg, Utrecht (postcode 3500-3599), Den Haag (postcode 2500-2599) and Houten the download speed has been increased up to 120 Mbit/s as of 1 July 2010. In these test municipalities the Internet Z3 and Alles-in-1 Plus subscription forms offer higher download speeds than elsewhere.[11]
Telephony [edit]
Ziggo has 1.525 million subscribers to their land-line telephone services. It also offers a virtual mobile phone service.
Triple play [edit]
Ziggo has 1.426 million triple play subscribers. Of these subscribers the majority are subscribed to Alles-in-1 cable television, broadband internet and telephone service bundles.
See also [edit]
- Digital television in the Netherlands
- Internet in the Netherlands
- List of cable companies in the Netherlands
- Television in the Netherlands
- Ziggo Dome
References [edit]
- ^ a b Ziggo Bond Company B.V. (2013). "Ziggo NV Annual Report 2012" (in English). Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ Gertjan Groen (2008-01-29). "Kabelbedrijf Zesko verder onder de naam Ziggo". Telecomwereld.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ^ "Ziggo Investor Relations". Ziggo.com. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ Cinven and Warburg Pincus plan to further reduce stake in Ziggo N.V.
- ^ Cinven and Warburg Pincus have further reduced stake in Ziggo N.V.
- ^ Acquisition of 12,65% stake in Ziggo N.V.
- ^ David de Jong (2008-05-15). "Gefuseerd kabelbedrijf Zesko vanaf morgen Ziggo". DutchMedia Weblog (in Dutch). Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ^ Ziggo 2013 Q1 results
- ^ JK (2009-06-16). "Nederlandse Publieke Omroep dicht bij start HDTV". TotaalTV (in Dutch). SBS Broadcasting. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Nederland 1, 2 en 3 in 2009 deels in HDTV". Broadcast Magazine (in Dutch). 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ^ Beschikbaarheid Ziggo Internet (Dutch)
External links [edit]
- ziggo.nl (Dutch)
- ziggo.com Corporate website Ziggo (English)
- ziggo-gebruikers.nl Ziggo Gebruikers Forum (Dutch)
