Cable Bahamas has admitted that household penetration of pay-TV services plunged by 21 percentage points in seven years because Bahamians now spend more time watching Netflix-type streaming services.
The BISX-listed communications provider, in its just-published response to a regulatory review of the pay-TV, Internet broadband and fixed-voice markets, argued that its position in the TV/video market is “fast receding” due to the growing popularity of streaming and over-the-top (OTT) services and thus it should not be subject to stricter supervision as a significant market power (SMP) operator.
Noting that household penetration of pay-TV services in The Bahamas has plummeted by 21 percentage points, falling from 65 percent in 2017 to just 44 percent in the 2023 second quarter, Cable Bahamas argued that the investments made by itself and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) in upgrading their networks have facilitated the success of the likes of Hulu, Disney and Netflix.
The faster broadband Internet speeds offered by the two Bahamian incumbents’ fibre-to-the-premises networks, as well as their upgraded cable and DSL systems, “in turn has allowed OTT providers like Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Disney to ‘go direct’ to customers, bypassing their traditional distribution partners like Cable Bahamas and BTC”.
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