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| Type | Besloten Vennootschap |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters |  Netherlands, Utrecht |
| Key people | Bernard Dijkhuizen (CEO) |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Products | Cable television Broadband Internet Telephony |
| Revenue | €1.093 billion (2007)[1] |
| Net income | - €264.84 million (2007)[1] |
| Owner(s) | Zesko Holding |
| 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 UPC Netherlands and KPN.
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History
Private equity firms Cinven and Warburg Pincus[3] bought the three companies. In 2000 Multikabel was bought by Cinven; until then, the company had been mostly government-owned. In 2005 the company was sold again to Warburg Pincus.
Cable television
Ziggo offers analog and digital cable television to 3.3 million subscribers of which more than 1 million watch digital. [3] In recent years the number of analogue channels has been reduced to make more bandwidth available for digital HD channels.
Analogue and digital
Basic analogue service is called Televisie Z1 and consists of about 30 television and 60 radio channels. Digitally the basic service offers the same radio and television plus some additional channels. It consists of all the major Dutch networks and some of the main networks of neighbouring countries. An additional digital service offers subscribtion to a number of additional packages under the nameTelevisie Z2. Every package comes with Music Choice and XLnt Radio which offer 35 additional radio channels.
High-definition
Ziggo offers nine HD channels, five are part of the HDTV package and include Discovery HD and NGC HD. Two come with the subscriptions of premium film and sport services Film1 and Sport1. The rest are part of basic service.
In the first quarter of 2009 the Dutch public broadcaster NPO will start simulcasting Nederland 1, Nederland 2, and Nederland 3 in HD (720p). Most of the programming in the early stages will 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 and the 2008 Summer Olympics in HD, the rest of the time will be an upscaled version of its parent channel.[4] The public HD channels will be part of basic service.
Technology
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 or rent 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
Ziggo offers broadband Internet access to 1.2 million subscribers in the following subscription forms:
- Internet Z1 : download speed 3 Mbit/s, upload speed 0.5 Mbit/s
- Internet Z2 : download speed 10 Mbit/s, upload speed 1.5 Mbit/s
- Internet Z3 : download speed 25 Mbit/s, upload speed 4 Mbit/s
- Alles-in-1 Basis : download speed 1.5 Mbit/s, upload speed 0.25 Mbit/s
- Alles-in-1 Plus : download speed 20 Mbit/s, upload speed 3 Mbit/s
- Alles-in-1 Extra : download speed 50 Mbit/s, upload speed 5 Mbit/s
The latest speed increase was on July 1 2009. With the introduction of EuroDOCSIS 3.0 speeds will increase to around 80 Mbit/s in late 2009 and up to 120 Mbit/s Q1 2010. [5]
Telephony
Ziggo has 750.000 subscribers to their land-line telephone services. It also offers a virtual mobile phone service.
References
- ^ a b David de Jong (2008-05-05). "Jaarresultaat 2007 Zesko Holding" (in Dutch). DutchMedia Weblog. http://dutchmedia.nl/blog/?p=1310. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ^ Gertjan Groen (2008-01-29). "Kabelbedrijf Zesko verder onder de naam Ziggo" (in Dutch). Telecomwereld.nl. http://telecomwereld.nl/n0002471.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ^ a b David de Jong (2008-05-15). "Gefuseerd kabelbedrijf Zesko vanaf morgen Ziggo" (in Dutch). DutchMedia Weblog. http://dutchmedia.nl/blog/?p=1314. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ^ "Nederland 1, 2 en 3 in 2009 deels in HDTV" (in Dutch). Broadcast Magazine. 2008-05-12. http://www.broadcastmagazine.nl/nieuws/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2736&cHash=877227f56e. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
- ^ "Ziggo plant nieuwe snelheidsverhogingen" (in Dutch). tweakers.net. 2009-01-12. http://tweakers.net/nieuws/57768/ziggo-plant-nieuwe-snelheidsverhogingen.html. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
See also
- Television in the Netherlands
- Digital television in the Netherlands
- Internet in the Netherlands
- List of cable companies in the Netherlands
- Ziggo Dome
External links
- ziggo.nl (Dutch)
- ziggo.mobi Ziggo Mobile (Dutch)
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