Media and telecommunications

Financial models and business strategies

Do you want to develop your portfolio, optimise your risk management practices and evaluate promising new business models for your company? We analyse different scenarios, develop cost and financial models, and advise you on the future strategic orientation of your company.

Optimisation of costs and processes

We use comparison methods for developing possible cost and process optimisation scenarios for you. With a combination of econometric and statistical tools, we develop the decision-making basis that enables you to improve the efficiency of your company’s processes.

Competition and regulatory processes

What are the competitive implications of your business strategy? How does it affect the users of your products and services? Working closely with you and your lawyers, we conduct competition analyses for you and prepare economic arguments and expert reports.

Innovation and market analyses

We use economically substantiated methods to record and analyse how your customers react to new products and pricing strategies. We further analyse comprehensive data sets for your products and services with the aim of gaining insights for your strategic development.

Some of our projects

Examination of the broadband offer and demand at regional and municipal level. Determining the coverage of the current and potential demand from companies and households. Analysis of regulatory solutions for providing services in individual areas without service.

Revising the LRIC cost accounting and the financial plan of a Swiss cable network operator to distinguish between expansion investments and renewal investments.

Measuring and comparing the preferences for quality of telecommunications services of Swiss and German customers. The two groups have similar preferences for landlines, but the Swiss are willing to pay considerably more for mobile telephony.

Assessing whether communication network providers operate active traffic management for the transmission of data packets and if they are allowed to differentiate on price and quality. Analysing the market for internet traffic services in Switzerland.

Assessing the price regulation procedure used by Austria’s RTR (Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications) for virtual unbundling, as well as assessing the regulation measures and fee structure for different bandwidths.

Assessing whether the joint marketing of advertising content by Swisscom, Ringier and SRG does the Swiss economy and advertising industry more harm than good.

Using a qualitative and theoretical model to assess the degree of market distortion caused by the fee-financed SRG on other providers and forms of media.

Determining Swiss TV consumers’ willingness to pay for replay TV and advertising reels.

Patrick Zenhäusern

+41 62 205 15 76

Clients

law firms - trade associations - federal agencies - departments/ministries - professional associations - cable network operators - media associations - national and cantonal industry associations - network operators - network operator associations - network owners - telecommunications and media companies - companies of the energy sector

Publications

Hochbreitband in der Schweiz - Erfolgreiche kompetitive Netzvielfalt heute und in den kommenden Jahren

In seiner Stellungnahme zur Standesinitiative 16.306 («Gewährleistung eines landesweit dichten Hochbreitbandangebots») des Kantons Tessin betont das BAKOM die sehr gute Schweizer Breitbandabdeckung und dass die Netzbetreiber ihre Netze laufend weiter ausbauen. Basierend auf diesem Fazit belegt die vorliegende Studie erstmalig mit Hilfe der Daten des BAKOM-Breitbandatlasses, dass selbst «Heavy User» mit mehreren 100 Mbit/s Nutzungsbedarf im Down- und Upload sehr gut versorgt sind. Es sind auf Gemeindeebene faktisch keine «white areas» mehr in Hinblick auf die Verfügbarkeit von Hochbreitbandanschlüssen zu beobachten. Daher ist keine Objekthilfe zu rechtfertigen, also keine Subvention für eine bestimmte Technologie in einem bestimmten Gebiet. Möglich ist hingegen, dass Kunden im Einzelfall ihren spezifischen Nutzungsbedarf an Bandbreite nicht vollumfänglich über die in den einzelnen Gemeinden vorhandene Festnetz-Technologie abdecken können («white spots»). In diesem Fall kann jedoch die Nachfrage meistens über eine mobilfunkbasierte Technologie gedeckt werden. Verbleiben ausnahmsweise «white spots», sollten diese aus ordnungspolitischer Sicht gezielt via Subjekthilfe individuell und kosteneffizient angegangen werden. Im Kern darf resümiert werden, dass in der Schweiz die wettbewerbsgetriebene und privat finanzierte Investitionsstrategie mit gemischten Technologien die Nachfrage flächendeckend effizient abdeckt.

Legal and Economic Competition Analysis regarding the Merger Project Sunrise / Liberty Global

On behalf of Sunrise Communications Group AG, Prager Dreifuss and Polynomics have prepared a legal and economic competition analysis for the Sunrise / Liberty Global merger project. We conclude that in the relevant markets there is a lack of causality between the proposed merger and individual market dominance. The existing asymmetries between Swisscom, Sunrise and UPC are likely to increase following the merger of the latter two. Symmetries with regard to technologies and capacities as well as costs and prices will decrease; there will also remain fewer product symmetries and generally fewer interest symmetries. Coordination in the sense of tacit collusion and thus collective market dominance is therefore impossible. A look beyond the borders (Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Germany, etc.) also shows that mergers between mobile companies and cable network operators in concentrated markets were approved according to a stricter standard of examination than in Switzerland, although some were subject to conditions due to the stricter examination test or the lower intervention thresholds. The report can be obtained on request from the study authors (philipp.zurkinden [at] prager-dreifuss.com, stephan.vaterlaus [at] polynomics.ch or patrick.zenhaeusern [at] polynomics.ch) and forwarded to all interested parties. The attached article for the NZZ summarizes the findings of the report.

Struktur der Medienmärkte bei vollständig digitalem Konsum

Wir haben schillernde Persönlichkeiten wie Alan Rusbridger (Chefredakteur und Herausgeber der britischen Tageszeitung The Guardian), Emily Bell (Columbia University, New York), James T. Hamilton (Stanford University) und weitere zu den tiefgreifenden Auswirkungen der fortschreitenden Digitalisierung und Vernetzung auf die Medienlandschaft befragt. Die dazu notwendige Debatte führen wir losgelöst von den heutigen Besitzständen. Unsere Studie macht einen gedanklichen Zeitsprung nach vorne und beschreibt eine Welt der vollumfänglich digitalisierten Medienwelt samt Auswirkungen dieses Szenarios auf Marktstruktur und Demokratie.

Media and telecommunications

Financial models and business strategies

Optimisation of costs and processes

Competition and regulatory processes

Innovation and market analyses

Some of our projects

Future of high-speed broadband in Switzerland

Financial plan for cable networks

Customer preferences, telecommunications

Neutrality in communication networks

Price-regulated unbundling charges

Advertising in digital communication

Competitive effect of radio/TV licence

Willingness to pay for replay TV

Future of high-speed broadband in Switzerland

Patrick Zenhäusern

Clients

Publications

Hochbreitband in der Schweiz - Erfolgreiche kompetitive Netzvielfalt heute und in den kommenden Jahren

Legal and Economic Competition Analysis regarding the Merger Project Sunrise / Liberty Global

Struktur der Medienmärkte bei vollständig digitalem Konsum

Angebote

Energy supply

Healthcare

Financial sector