Liberty Global names European mobile chief in 'quad' push

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. Cable company Liberty Global (LBTYA) has appointed a European mobile chief as it pushes into wireless services to meet growing demand for television, broadband, mobile and fixed-line services - so-called "quad play" - from one provider.

The quad move could be a threat to operators in the crowded German sector as they scramble for a share of Europe's largest telecoms market.

Liberty said on Friday it had appointed Graeme Oxby as managing director of its European Mobile operations.

Oxby was director of Mobile & Home Phone at Virgin Media, which Liberty earlier this year bought in a stock-and-cash deal worth about $15.8 billion.

Liberty has been testing the waters as a so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Europe, including in Britain, Belgium and Germany - where it owns the No. 2 cable company Unitymedia KabelBW - but has not made a serious push so far.

MVNOs are operators who rent access on bigger rivals' networks and tend to sell cheaper mobile plans, often without a long-term contract and targeted at youth or ethnic niches.

In Britain, Virgin Media offers superfast wireless broadband services to businesses, which are increasingly looking to buy fixed, mobile and other telecom services from a single provider to save costs and simplify billing.

"In this new role Graeme will further develop Liberty Global's core mobile network to become a full MVNO operator in most of its European operations," the company said on Friday.

CABLE GOES MOBILE

A rise in demand for "quad play" services was the main reason that British telecoms group Vodafone (VOD.L) splashed out 7.7 billion euros ($10.4 billion) to buy Kabel Deutschland, Germany's biggest cable operator, this year.

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Liberty Global names European mobile chief in 'quad' push