Eyeing a future that delivers widespread gigabit speeds, Liberty Global plans to kick off field trials of DOCSIS 3.1 in “late 2017,” the cable giant noted in its Q4 results.

The company is also looking to expand the deployment of its cloud-powered, 4K-capable video platform, and a new WiFi Connect Box.

Those plans come into focus a few months after Virgin Media, the U.K.-based MSO owned by Liberty Global, introduced a TiVo-powered set-top called the V6 that supports 4K and High Dynamic Range video, and a bigger shift toward a new, cloud-based  “EOS” platform that’s poised to become Liberty Global’s video workhorse.

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Liberty Global said it added 946,000 revenue-generating units in Europe last year, up 24%. The operator ended the year with more than 1.4 million new “gigabit-ready homes,” including nearly 500,000 at Virgin Media.

In Q4, Liberty Global also completed the rollout of its Horizon TV platform across its European operations, following launches in Australia and “Horizon-Lite” in Romania.

Liberty Global will use its updated video platforms to spur growth in that category. The MSO lost 24,400 video subs in Europe during Q4 2016, narrowed from a loss of 59,100 in the year-ago period, and shed 276,900 video subs for all of 2016, versus a loss of 400,300 in 2015.

The MSO also gained 230,600 data subs in Europe, alongside the addition of 117,500 voice subs in the period.

The company’s LiLAC Group, which contains its Latin American and Caribbean operations, shed 6,200 video subs in Q4, added 14,500 data customers, and lost 8,500 video subs.

Liberty Global and Netflix have inked a multi-year deal that will pave the way for the MSO to provide set-top-level access to the popular OTT service in systems serving more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Netherlands will be the first new Liberty Global territory to launch Netflix on the MSO’s “Horizon” box, as part of the partnership. Liberty Global expects to expand the rollout to other territories through 2017.  

Financial terms were not disclosed, but they said the deal “complements Liberty Global’s investment in content through acquisitions, partnerships and original commissions alongside the $2.5 billion spent each year on licensed content for its video platforms.”

And it’s another example of a cable operator moving ahead with a strategy that blends its traditional pay TV platform with access to OTT fare. The Liberty Global-Netflix deal is also entering play as the MSO pushes ahead with a next-gen video platform called EOS that will serve as a key cog in the MSO's next-gen video strategy. 

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Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, has long praised Netflix for exposing a gap in cable’s video strategy and teaching MSOs a valuable lesson on what customers want. For example, at the opening session at the 2014 Cable Show (now called INTX), Fries said Netflix has “exposed that we have a massive functionality gap.”

For Netflix, the Liberty Global deal should broaden its exposure to consumers because its service will be tightly integrated with their primary set-top box. The deal also comes almost ten months after Netflix launched service to more than 130 additional countries.

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And the blending of OTT, and Netflix for that matter, is not a foreign concept to Liberty Global. For example, Liberty Global-owned Virgin Media, the largest MSO in the U.K., has been integrating Netflix on TiVo-powered boxes since 2013. Meanwhile, Global’s Hungary-based cable operation has been working with ActiveVideo (now co-owned by Charter Communications and Arris) to bring YouTube and other apps to older, non-IP-capable boxes.

“We are committed to bringing the best content to our customers, and are thrilled to expand our partnership with Netflix. This deal will provide even more freedom to our subscribers – allowing them to access a goldmine of amazing TV and films at the click of a button, fully integrated into their usual TV viewing set-up,” Fries said in a statement.

“This partnership builds on our strong relationship with Virgin Media in the UK, allowing millions of our mutual customers around the world to easily access the broadest range of TV shows and movies without having to search for that other remote control,” added Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. “Combining the Netflix app - and all the great content it provides - into the familiar, easy-to-use cable box makes both more appealing.”

Virgin Media, the U.K.’s largest cable operator, used Twitter to present a sneak peek of a next-gen set-top box that will be powered by TiVo and support 4K and a selection of OTT apps.

“Sneak Preview: Say hello to our new Virgin TV V6 box, powered by TiVo. More to come soon. #VirginV6,” the MSO announced Thursday via Twitter, along with an image of the box and a remote control that looks similar to other peanut-shaped devices from TiVo.

Virgin Media has not announced an official launch date or pricing on the box, but offered a few more details in another tweet, in response to questions from leery consumers noting that it will be 4K UHD ready for Netflix and YouTube.

@DCVANS8 We have confirmed that the box will be called the Virgin TV V6 and it is of course powered by TiVo.  It ... https://t.co/2u3F8XgoDh

— Virgin Media (@virginmedia) August 11, 2016

Virgin Media’s new box is an example of a new, more powerful “EOS” platform from parent company Liberty Global that will become the MSO’s video workhorse.

The box and accompanying interface will represent a “very significant step up in our ability to [offer] on-demand programming across multiple forms and give our customers access to a wide range of over the top applications,” Virgin Media CEO Tom Mockridge said last week on Liberty Global’s Q2 earnings call.

Virgin Media is preparing to launch the V6 amid increased competition from Sky and its  Sky Q, the provider’s next-gen whole-home, multiscreen video platform.

Virgin Media has been offering a TiVo-powered experience on devices made by Samsung and Cisco (Technicolor acquired Cisco’s set-top unit last year).  But Arris (which acquired U.K.-based set-top maker Pace in January) announced in 2015 that it had won a 4K box deal with Liberty Global. An industry source confirmed that Arris is indeed the hardware partner for Virgin’s next-gen box paired with software from TiVo, which is in the process of merging with Rovi.

Liberty Global execs said the MSO is pushing ahead with EOS, a next-gen, cloud-powered box equipped with 4K capabilities that will bring more unity to its video platform.

EOS is “going to be the workhorse for our video platform. It’s powerful, inexpensive with great scale benefit,” Mike Fries, Liberty Global’s CEO, said last week on the company’s Q2 earnings call.

Fries said he expects EOS devices to cost “much less” than the MSO’s current Horizon boxes.

Liberty Global hasn’t pinpointed where EOS will show up first, but the box “will be rolled out all across Europe, and will benefit South America as well,” Balan Nair, Liberty Global’s CTO, added.

And, Nair added, it will be flexible enough to swap in apps and interfaces. “We’ll have a very easy way to move UIs on, so you could have TiVo one day on and you can have the Horizon UI in the same box, the next day. So, it’s a very fungible low cost high powered box.”

And the EOS rollout will have some impact on Liberty Global’s Virgin Media unit in the U.K., which has been leaning on a TiVo-powered platform.

The plan there is to “re-launch under the brand Virgin TV” with the new EOS box along with a new interface that will provide a “very significant step up in our ability to [offer] on-demand programming across multiple forms and give our customers access to a wide range of over the top applications,” Virgin Media CEO Tom Mockridge said.

Virgin Media will be shifting to the new box platform as it continues to face off with Sky and its launch of Sky Q, a new next-gen whole-home, multiscreen video platform.

Liberty Global announced plans for EOS in May, noting that it intends to start trials later this year.

Liberty Global ended Q2 with 53.9 million revenue generating units (22.5 million video, 17.1 million broadband, and 14.3 million telephony RGUs), up by 231,000, across its footprint of 49.8 million homes passed in Europe. However, Liberty Global shed 72,000 video subs in Q2, improving on the 111,000 video losses from the year-ago quarter.