NTL and TeleWest Merger

[Nemesis]

There's still a lot of talk about this ... anyone believe that it will actually happen?

Just for general views really ...

[eddie00001]

Not sure, its something that has been rumoured for a good few years now. It seemed to start just after ntl take over of CWC

[orangebird]

I think I should it happen - but if it does I'm sure after being burnt so badly after previous aquisitions and terrible integration, ntl and telewest will take their time engineering this merger.:)

[Escapee]

I think I should it happen - but if it does I'm sure after being burnt so badly after previous aquisitions and terrible integration, ntl and telewest will take their time engineering this merger.:)

I can only see it being a success if Telewest take the lead when they all start fighting in the empire building stakes, or perhaps the shareholders will have a closer involvement in things this time.

There are still many unnecessary empires that need to be broken down in ntl!

[orangebird]

I can only see it being a success if Telewest take the lead when they all start fighting in the empire building stakes, or perhaps the shareholders will have a closer involvement in things this time.

There are still many unnecessary empires that need to be broken down in ntl!

Why will it only be a success if Telewest take the lead? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure Telewest also went through restructuring, and I'm willing to bet that not 100% of their customer base is happy with their services....

I doubt very much the shatreholders will have much say - the major shareholders in both companies are the same consort. so I guess it will be down to them.... :shrug:

[Colin]

Also i happen to know that the managing director of ntlhome south central just left his job to take up a position at....wait for it... Telewest.

Coincidence? actually, it probably is!

[Graham F]

Also i happen to know that the managing director of ntlhome south central just left his job to take up a position at....wait for it... Telewest.

Coincidence? actually, it probably is!

I heard that as well and no i don't think it is a coincidence at all i think its the start of the road to a merger. The way i heard it was annouced that he was leaving was that his move to telewest was a logical step for him and ntl. By the end of 2004 ntl and telewest will be holding offical merger talks

[orangebird]

<snip>By the end of 2004 ntl and telewest will be holding offical merger talks

I don't think it'll take that long....

[Russ]

But do either side need to do this?

[Graham F]

But do either side need to do this?

erm...Well my understanding of it is that when Telewest complete there refinacing Bill Huff will have large stakes in both companies and he will be the one driving this forward.

[orangebird]

erm...Well my understanding of it is that when Telewest complete there refinacing Bill Huff will have large stakes in both companies and he will be the one driving this forward.

That's the point - there is no need for it, but what's the point in owning and affording the running of two seperate companies, when they largely offer the same services, and could do this with less cost if they were merged? Bit of a no brainer really. :shrug:

[Chrysalis]

this should be illegal, NTL have areas which have substandard products eg, analogue instead of digital, and they are investing money in a merger instead of sorting out their current business first, also another reason this should be blocked is that ntl and telewest own franchises for areas which they have not cabled, this merger legally should be blocked until all franchised areas are cabled and all areas are digital, but of course we all know it wont be blocked.

[Fawkes]

this should be illegal, NTL have areas which have substandard products eg, analogue instead of digital, and they are investing money in a merger instead of sorting out their current business first, also another reason this should be blocked is that ntl and telewest own franchises for areas which they have not cabled, this merger legally should be blocked until all franchised areas are cabled and all areas are digital, but of course we all know it wont be blocked.

But they can't afford to do that right now, or at least not at the pace some would like. If merging the two companies helps them reduce costs as a whole there will be more money for upgrades and expansion.

[Hick]

this should be illegal, NTL have areas which have substandard products eg, analogue instead of digital, and they are investing money in a merger instead of sorting out their current business first, also another reason this should be blocked is that ntl and telewest own franchises for areas which they have not cabled, this merger legally should be blocked until all franchised areas are cabled and all areas are digital, but of course we all know it wont be blocked.

NTL and Telewest own country wide licenses iirc, so to force them to cable all of this before they merge is a bit harsh. One of the resons this merger should go ahead is that it would supposedly reduce costs and so it would be far more possible for NTL to complete the tasks you ask of it, if it had the money to do so :)

[Jonathan David]

Russ. Ntl and Telewest might not Need to merge, however for the future balance of the pay tv sector, NTL and Telewest must merge to take on $ky. One combined company is a better prospect then two companies struggling to stay affloat on broadband profits rather than on television services.

[Chrysalis]

ok I can see the need to merge to take on sky, but really a condition of the merger should be to either cable up the areas they own franchises for or to give away the franchises, because they seem to have brought the franchises with no intention of cabling the areas. Also they need to digitalise all areas if they can even start of dreaming on taking on sky, analogue ntl to sky digi no comparison I am afraid.

[asdf]

Telewest are currently re-cabling their very old areas in B'ham to enable them to have digital. NTL are also doing that in London.

Patience however is much needed :p

[Escapee]

Why will it only be a success if Telewest take the lead? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure Telewest also went through restructuring, and I'm willing to bet that not 100% of their customer base is happy with their services....

I doubt very much the shatreholders will have much say - the major shareholders in both companies are the same consort. so I guess it will be down to them.... :shrug:

We look at things from different angles due to our different backgrounds, I know nothing about your job in ntl but I do know how bad ntl is as at engineering changes. Unfortunately ntl has always been a bit of a Heath Robinson company when it comes down to engineering, I think some influence fron Telewest in that area would greatly improve things in ntl.

But first they need to take a very long look where they are still fat around the middle, some ntl regions have significantly more supervisors/managers per engineer than before the first planning for growth fiasco. planning for growth unfortunately cost a lot of people their jobs, but in some cases positions have been conveniently manufactured to keep some jobs for the boys.
In these cases more supervisors were appointed to give the managers people to look after, and engineers working alongside one another were reporting to different bosses as they shared the techs/engineers out amongst themselves to save their own jobs. I remember during the first planning for growth when we had a presentation and they made a big thing stating how many tiers of management would be in place and how many techs/engineers a supervisor/manager needed to keep his job, it resulted in the supervisors having the bare minimum each with some techs/engineers reporting to bosses over 60 miles away. You will probably say that much has changed since I left, indeed it has. The field operation managers have increased fourfold whilst technicians/engineers have left, been sacked or made redundant. not one single field operation manager has lost thier job in this instance.

Two of the people appointed to these positions in my old region were call centre supervisors, they didn't have 10% of the criteria stated on the job advert between them. The fact that their jobs were under threat and they were in favour with someone meant they were able to jump straight into another position that they did not have the skills for.

Until these inconsistencies are sorted it will be very difficult to make meaningfull changes to the company. The engineers laugh because they have these managers go out on the road for a supposed coach and train session, they just sit there dumb because they now nothing about the job and can only pick the engineers up on silly things like their van being a bit dirty or not saying exactly the right thing to the customer, they would have no idea if the engineer made a very big technical c**k up. Engineers have been threatened with disciplinary procedures for some very silly things, all because a little knowledge is dangerous when applied to these new managers.

I know my points are only a small part of a big picture, but I think it's the same as when someone says "look after the pennies and the pounds etc etc"
Things have to be sorted at all levels and disciplines to make the company work more effectively, a clueless idiot wielding a big stick is not necessarily going to get the best results if they are going down the wrong path. I have heard from meetings that engineers who raise questions are threatened and told they are being awkward/obstructive, they are told never mind if it's a bad idea or not I am the boss and you will do as I say!