It's just policy that Don Valintine(sp?) thought was important. It makes no difference in the long run. I have questioned the stance also. Deutsche Telekom Confirms Deal...........................................
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July 7, 1997
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Deutsche Telekom Confirms Digital Pay-TV Deal In Germany
Deutsche Telekom, the partly privatized telecom company, has confirmed its part in an agreement with commercial broadcasters for the development of digital pay television in Germany. The deal is expected to help the company's loss-making cable activities.
It said the agreement reached last week with KirchGroup and CLT-Ufa, Germany's two biggest television companies, guaranteed it would operate the technical platform and administer the conditional access -- or decoding -- system for digital pay-TV distributed through its cable television network.
Under terms of the agreement, which still requires official approval, broadcasters will pay Deutsche Telekom an annual fee, thought to start at $5.17 million for use of the cable network. They also would pledge a percentage of revenues.
The agreement between the three companies marks the end of a long battle for dominance in the growing digital pay-TV market. While Deutsche Telekom has secured its position as administrator of the technical aspects, Kirch and CLT-Ufa, which is 40 percent owned by the media group Bertelsmann, agreed to pool their digital pay-TV interests in Premiere, a pay-channel that uses analogue technology and in which both have stakes.
This tie-up moved ahead July 2 when the board of French operator Canal Plus authorized the sale of its 37.5 percent interest in Premiere to Kirch.
The French group said financial details would be released within a few days. |
