Scandinavian direct-to-home satellite services provider Viasat, part of the Modern Times Group (MTG), had about 750,000 subscribers at the end of September but sees its future growth being driven by a convergence of technologies.

Andrew Barron, the COO of MTG, said the company sees itself as “a broadcasting business” and convergence of distribution platforms will be a good opportunity to increase the number of ways Viasat can makes content available. “We would not rule anything out and do indeed have a close relationship with alternative pan-European telco Tele2 that has involved us launching mobile content via 3G phones for their customers. We are generally not in the telecoms or infrastructure businesses, nonetheless, as distribution options proliferate, we see our strong television brands as being one of the main differentiators between an increasing number of otherwise largely generic triple-play providers.”

Viasat launched television-over-broadband services in 2005 by making its premium package of channels available to fiber-connected households in Sweden. The operator now is looking to extend its reach still further. “We are looking to sign similar agreements with other broadband providers to become their content partners as part of our clear commitment to increasing viewer choice, not just in terms of content but also in terms of delivery,” Barron said. “As a content provider, we are therefore clearly platform neutral.”

However, buying an ISP to increase its offerings, similar to BSkyB’s acquisition of Easynet in the United Kingdom, may not necessarily be the right move for Viasat, Barron said.

“The question is whether you actually need to own the ISP to make this happen and retain value,” Barron said. “Our early success with partnering suggests not in our specific case. Additionally, we want Viasat channels and Viasat Gold to be ubiquitous, which becomes more complicated when you compete across the board with many of your potential distributors. Some will undoubtedly follow BSkyB‘s example, and it may well be right for them, but we are focused more on exploiting a network of partnerships, which plays more to our sustainable broadcasting strengths.”