Swisscom subsidiary Hospitality Services Plus, has announced the purchase of the software assets from Broadcast Avenue, an IPTV provider to major luxury French hotels including Hotel St James, the Plaza Athénée, Le Meurice and Royal Monceau.
The decision by Swisscom comes at a time when hotels are diversifying through innovative entertainment and experiencing declining revenue with their pay-TV offerings. Swisscom conducted research that revealed that indicates that guest dissatisfaction is down to three main factors: unavailability of programmes they want to watch, lack of flexibility in usage and poor picture quality. With the acquisition of Broadcast Avenue, Swisscom has a head start in the development of new and combined value proposition encompassing broadband services, TV, video and music-on-demand programmes.
“As decreasing Pay-TV usage across the industry evidences, guests feel poorly served in terms of in-room entertainment,” says Christian Petit, CEO of Swisscom’s subsidiary Hospitality Services Plus. “A total rethinking of the content and connectivity types and formats is necessary if hoteliers want to regain their guests’ attention. This is exactly the direction that Broadcast Avenue has taken, serving the tip of the high-end hospitality industry. Our aim is to build on this expertise, deliver a rich multimedia entertainment experience and make it available to a larger number of hotels and guests.”
