BSkyB Untroubled By NTL’s Mobile Ambitions

Satellite giant BSkyB has no plans to enter the mobile market, the company’s chief financial officer has revealed, with the company seemingly untroubled by cable rival NTL’s ambitions for ‘quadruple play’ services of TV, phone, internet and mobile.

Speaking at a conference in New York, Jeremy Darroch, chief financial officer at BSkyB, claimed: “We don’t feel the need to develop a separate mobile revenue stream. It’s something we will watch but we think, with the acquisition of Easynet, we have an infrastructure that’s going to allow us to launch a compelling range of products and services.”

Sky will soon offer customers internet access and fixed line telephone services following its acquisition of internet service provider Easynet earlier this year (see Sky Nets ISP For Triple Play Services).

The company also offers some mobile services, although these are provided via existing mobile operators, rather than by Sky’s own mobile platform (see Sky Signs Vodafone For Mobile TV Service).

Commenting on NTL’s attempts to woo Virgin Mobile, and ultimately rebrand its entire business with the Virgin marque, Darroch said: “It didn’t particularly surprise us that NTL felt the need to move their branding on from NTL and Telewest, given the issues that historically dogged them. I don’t think fundamentally this changes the competitive landscape.

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