Largest international cable industry event will see sector leaders & major players converge in Lucerne, Switzerland for exclusive insight into sector

(Brussels, 15 December)  Cable Congress is announcing a line-up of top level speakers to take part in the cable industry’s leading event dedicated to the sector in Europe. Cable Congress 2011 comes with a powerful programme featuring top executives driving the cable, technology, content and new media industries. Themed Techtonic Forces, the event will take place at KKL Convention Centre, Lucerne from Tuesday 15th to Thursday 17th February 2011.

“It’s hard to imagine a higher concentration of industry players in one place,” says Cable Europe President, Manuel Kohnstamm. “With all the convergence taking place in the market, we expect a unique event at a critical time for the industry. Just look at VOD figures which paint a telling picture. Growth for pay digital TV continues in double digit growth, 17% to be exact to 24.7 million homes in Europe. The latest forecasts that we had come in today from Screen Digest show Europe’s enabled VOD homes growing by an astounding 23% for the year end of 2010 to almost 31 million homes. We are optimistic about 2011!”

More than 40 top speakers representing European, US and Asian cable industry and related peer industries are already lined-up for 2011.

Speakers include:

·        Guy Bisson, Research Director, Television, Screen Digest

·        Bernard Dijkhuizen, CEO, Ziggo

·        Mike Fries, President & CEO, Liberty Global, Inc

·        John Hahn, Managing Director, Providence Equity Partners

·        Aaron Heslehurst, Presenter, BBC World News

·        Paul Liao, President & CEO, CableLabs

·        Balan Nair, Senior Vice President & CTO, Liberty Global Inc

·        Rosalia Portela, CEO, Ono

·        Adrian von Hammerstein, CEO, Kabel Deutschland

·        Patrick Walker, Director of Partnerships, Google/YouTube

“This year will have a unique mix of actors who are creating a lot of interest in high profile markets such as high speed broadband and digital interactive TV,” comments Cable Europe Managing Director, Caroline Van Weede. “According to the last estimate for 2010 by Screen Digest, the EU now counts 23.2 million cable broadband users. Competition to attract more customers in this converging sector where we believe we’re the ones pushing the speed envelope will continue and only get tougher.”

The flagship annual event for the industry faithful facilitates the exchange of information and best practices for all major players in the cable industry. In addition to the leaders of network operators, service providers to content suppliers, equipment manufacturers, vendors, software & services providers, press, analysts, industry regulators and investors will all be in full force at this consistently well-attended meeting of minds.

For more information, please contact:

Gregg Svingen or Jessica Fernandez
T: +32 2 521 17 63
E: gregg.svingen@cable-europe.eu,
Jessica.fernandez@cable-europe.eu

About Cable Europe

Cable Europe is a trade association that groups all leading broadband cable TV operators and their national associations throughout Europe. The aim of Cable Europe is to promote and defend the industry’s policies and business interests at European and international levels, and to foster cooperation among its members. The European cable TV industry services more than 94 million broadband, TV and telephony subscriptions throughout the EU 27 (around 70 million households).
www.cable-europe.eu

About Screen Digest

Screen Digest is the pre-eminent firm of industry analysts that has been covering global media markets for over 30 years. Headquartered in London, with offices in New York and Monterey, California, we employ a team
of 40 specialist analysts covering film, television, broadband, mobile, cinema, home entertainment and gaming in the European Union, providing Digital TV, Broadband Internet and Telephony services.
www.screendigest.com