According to a survey by Solon Management, executives from large European cable operators expect an accelerated growth rate, forecasting a revenue increase of 6% per year until 2016. At the same time, they also foresee a further increase in profitability: EBITDA margin is expected to reach 51% on average in 2016.
The research house expects the projected growth to by driven primarily by broadband and business services. Broadband is by far the largest revenue and EBITDA growth driver for the industry, mainly driven by growth in downstream speeds. The average speed of European cable operators was 48 Mbps in the first half of 2013. By 2016, cable players expect it to increase to more than 150 Mbps. Business services is perceived to be the second largest growth driver until 2016 (after broadband).
Survey results indicate that next generation TV is a defensive move due to increasing competition from DSL and fiber players, as well as OTT providers such as Netflix and Amazon.