Shaw 2013 Annual Report Download - page 37

S
haw
C
ommunications Inc
.
MANA
G
EMENT’
S
DI
SCUSS
I
O
N AND ANALY
S
I
S
August
31
,
2013
Š
C
ontrol o
f
the
C
om
p
an
y
b
y
the
S
haw
f
am
i
l
y
Š
I
nformation systems and internal business processes
Š
D
ividend payment
s
Š
Ac
q
u
i
s
i
t
i
ons and other strate
gi
c transact
i
on
s
i) Competition, technological change and regulatory regim
e
C
able and satell
i
te
p
rov
i
ders and telev
i
s
i
on broadcasters o
p
erate
i
nano
p
en and com
p
et
i
t
i
ve
m
arketplace. Shaw’s businesses face competition from regulated and unregulated entities
u
tilizing existing or new communications technologies and from illegal services. In addition, the
ra
pi
dde
p
lo
y
ment o
f
new technolo
gi
es, serv
i
ces and
p
roducts has reduced the trad
i
t
i
onal l
i
nes
between telecommunications, Internet and broadcasting services and expands further the
competitive landscape. Shaw may face competition in the future from other technologies bein
g
d
evelo
p
ed or
y
et to be develo
p
ed. Wh
i
le
S
haw cont
i
nuall
y
seeks to stren
g
then
i
ts com
p
et
i
t
i
ve
pos
i
t
i
on through
i
nvestments
i
n
i
n
f
rastructure, technology, programm
i
ng and customer serv
i
ce
,
t
here can be no assurance that these investments will be sufficient to maintain Shaw’s marke
t
share or
p
er
f
ormance
i
n the
f
uture.
CABLE TELEVISION AND DTH
S
haw’s cable telev
i
s
i
on and DTH s
y
stems currentl
y
com
p
ete or ma
yi
n the
f
uture com
p
ete w
i
th
o
ther d
i
str
i
butors o
f
v
i
deo and aud
i
os
i
gnals,
i
nclud
i
ng other DTH satell
i
te serv
i
ces, satell
i
te
m
aster antenna systems, multipoint distribution systems (“MDS”), other competitive cable
t
elev
i
s
i
on undertak
i
n
g
s and tele
p
hone com
p
an
i
es o
ff
er
i
n
g
v
i
deo serv
i
ce. As noted above,
S
ha
w
also competes w
i
th unregulated
i
nternet serv
i
ces,
i
llegal satell
i
te serv
i
ces
i
nclud
i
ng grey and
black market offerings, and unregulated video services and offerings available over high-spee
d
i
nternet connect
i
ons.
C
ont
i
nued
i
m
p
rovements
i
n the
q
ual
i
t
y
o
f
stream
i
n
g
v
i
deo over the
i
nternet and the ava
i
lab
i
l
i
ty o
f
telev
i
s
i
on shows and mov
i
es onl
i
ne
i
ncreases compet
i
t
i
on t
o
Shaw’s cable television and DTH businesses
.
The Company expects that competition will continue to increase and there can be no assurance
t
hat such
i
ncreased com
p
et
i
t
i
on w
i
ll not have a mater
i
al adverse e
ff
ect on
S
haw’s results o
f
o
perat
i
ons. The
C
ompany also expects
i
ncreased IPTV compet
i
t
i
on across
C
anada w
i
th respec
t
t
o its DTH Satellite services
.
INTERNET
There are a number of different types of ISPs offering residential and business Internet service
s
t
hat com
p
ete or ma
y
com
p
ete
i
n the
f
uture w
i
th
S
haw’s Internet serv
i
ces. These
i
nclud
e
independent service providers, ILECs, wireless providers, and electricity transmission and
d
istribution companies
.
H
igh-speed Internet access services are principally provided through cable modem and digita
l
subscr
i
ber l
i
ne
(“
D
S
L”
)
technolo
gy
. Internet serv
i
ces throu
g
h cable modem technolo
gy
are
primarily provided by cable companies, although the CRTC has also authorized third-party ISP
s
t
o access cable companies’ facilities, such as Shaw’s, to deliver high-speed Internet services
.
Although operating in a competitive environment, Shaw expects that consumer demand fo
r
I
nternet access serv
i
ces and
f
or bandw
i
dth-
i
ntens
i
ve a
pp
l
i
cat
i
ons on the Internet
(i
nclud
i
n
g
streaming video, digital downloading and interactive gaming) will lead to continued demand fo
r
h
igh-speed Internet services. Shaw continues to expand the capacity of its network to handle
t
he ant
i
c
ip
ated
i
ncreases
i
n demand, however there can be no assurance that network ca
p
ac
i
t
y
will continue to meet the increasing demand of its customers
.
33