Chile next for Horizon as Liberty Global evolves advanced TV platform

Mike Fries

Liberty Global is turning to Chile for its next Horizon advanced TV launch, according to president and CEO Mike Fries.

Speaking to analysts after Liberty Global’s latest quarterly results, Fries said that Chile, where the company operates cable network VTR, would be next up for a Horizon launch.

Liberty is currently trialling a new cloud and RDK-based version of the Horizon platform in Poland, and it is this version of the product that will be launched in Latin America, he said.

Liberty Global has invested in RDK – the initiative to provide a common framework for next-generation cable devices – alongside the project’s originator, US cable giant Comcast, and Time Warner Cable.

Fries also highlighted the recent launch of the TV everywhere version of the Horizon product, Horizon Go, which has now launched in five markets – the existing Horizon territories of the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland plus Poland.

Fries said that the success of Liberty’s video business “hinges on three things” – migration of analogue customers to digital, which generates “more than twice” the analogue ARPU, migration of digital subs to Horizon, and continued innovation in the video platform, including migration of Horizon to RDK and the launch of TV everywhere services.