Sky Network Television [NZX: SKT] has agreed a resale and distribution agreement with Vodafone after the mobile phone company bought Telstra Corp.'s New Zealand unit last year.
The agreement brings together previously separate arrangements with Vodafone and Telstra, allowing Vodafone to resell Sky TV's service and distribute its programmes to households via its own broadband network, Auckland-based Sky TV said in a statement.
Shares in Sky TV rose 1.3 percent to $5.30, taking their gain this year to 6.7 percent.
Sky TV has wholesale partnerships with Telecom, Vodafone and Slingshot, which aids the pay-TV company because it gets the benefit of their marketing efforts for bundled services. In May last year, the Commerce Commission began an investigation into Sky TV's content contracts with internet service providers to check whether such deals tied up the market and prevented competition.
The pay TV broadcaster refused to tell NBR ONLINE if the new deal prevented Vodafone from accessing pay TV content from an alternative provider - a key point of contention between Sky TV and TelstraClear.
A Vodafone spokeswoman told NBR, "Clearly there are a number of commitments in the agreement on both sides, but I’m afraid we can’t disclose what those are for reasons of commercial sensitivity."
The Commerce Commission is 16 months into an investigation of Sky TV's content deals with ISPs, and whether its content prevent newcomers, such as QuickFlix, from gaining critical mass.
(BusinessDesk)
Tina Morrison and NBR staff
Wed, 11 Jul 2018
Wed, 11 Jul 2018
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Sky TV agrees resale and distribution agreement with Vodafone - but pair secretive on details
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