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When the proposed merger of NTL and Virgin Mobile was first touted many analysts were unimpressed. They argued that the addition of mobile telephony was surplus to requirements; that choice of TV, broadband and fixed line telecom provider was a family decision, but that the choice of mobile phone provider is down to the individual. In any case, argued the detractors, Virgin Mobile's customers were typically less upmarket that the typical users of NTL.
But now transpose that debate into the current row with BSkyB.
Virgin media is desperately short of content. But so, in a way, is BSkyB. Sure, it has Sky 1, with programmes such as Lost and 24, but these programmes do not make BSkyB a content producer- rather they are bought-in.
BSkyB's content range, including its premiership football and other sports broadcasting rights, is not a sign of a company with a healthy in-house programming production capability, it's rather a sign of a company with massive buying power.
This is why NTL believes in the package of four play. Today, and increasingly so, TV style content is finding its way onto mobile phones. A company that broadcasts TV over both the cable and mobile phone network can also potentially realise economies of scale in buying.