Orion Express aims high

The Russian DTH platform Orion Express has set itself the goal of securing at least 500,000 more subscribers and increasing ARPU among its existing customers by 15% within a year.

To that effect, says Kommersant, it has appointed Sergei Stavropoltsev, until recently DG of its main rival Tricolor TV, as its new commercial director.

Stavropoltsev was at Tricolor TV from 2010 until July this year, when he became deputy DG of Rikor TV.

The latter is ceasing operations and around 40,000 of its customers will move over to Orion Express at the beginning of November.

Orion Express currently has a total of 2.4 million subscribers in Russia to its three services – Telekarta, Kontinent TV and Orient Express.

It is the country’s fifth largest pay-TV company with a 6% market share, behind NSK (29%), Rostelecom (21%), MTS and ER-Telecom (7% each).

Dish TV to manufacture STB

Dish TV has planned to manufacture set-top-boxes in the country. The company anticipates that taxation structure would aid the local production industry.

Jawahar Goel, Managing Director of Dish TV said that there would be improvement in the hardware economics of STBs sourced from India. “We hope that the taxation structure will be suitably amended to benefit local production,” added Goel.

Goel opined that implementation of goods and services tax would help in cost savings and to maximise margin.

Russian premium VOD market takes shape

Okko, formerly known as Play, has taken the lead in Russia’s paid-for on demand sector.

According to research on OTT operators undertaken by J’son & Partners Consulting, the smart TV home digital entertainment service had revenues of R285 million (€5.24 million) in the first half of this year, up from R70 million in the same period in 2013 and almost double that of iTunes.

Although Apple leads the world VOD market in electronic sell-through (EST), earning 65% of movie sales revenues, Russia is a unque market where the global leader is considerably behind its main competitor.

There were almost 5 million devices registered to receive Okko as of the end of Q2 and the smart TV platform accounted for over 91% of Okko’s revenues in the first half of this year.

Okko consists of two produucts: Okko Movies, formerly Play, the leading premium VOD service in Russia; and Okko TV a global OTT platform of TV channel distribution

Medialogic Pakistan launches new TV ratings service

Pakistan’s national TV ratings provider, Medialogic Pakistan Ltd, has officially launched its new service comprising 20 cities and 1,000 plus households.

“Medialogic remains committed to providing the most accurate, practical and effective media research solutions to its clients,” said Salman Danish, CEO of Medialogic. “With Kantar Media’s global expertise and Medialogic’s understanding of the Pakistani media industry, we are confident that the new TV ratings service will facilitate better decision making ultimately leading to a more transparent, efficient and dynamic TV Industry.”

The new service utilises state-of-the-art technology from Kantar Media UK. A technology partnership between the two organisations was announced last year. Medialogic will replace its older meters with Kantar Media’s Rapid Meters which employs state-of-the-art audio matching technology to measure TV viewership.

Philippines to start digital TV shift in 2019

Philippines’ regulatory agency, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), announced that the country’s DTT switch is likely to begin by 2019 with the process to start in the national capital, Manila.

“We are targeting to release the IRR within the month, as we just have to finalise some minor details,” said Gamaliel Cordoba, Commissioner of NTC. “Next will be the migration plan or when to shut off analogue TV. This will be by phase and for NCR (National Capital Region), the shift will be not more than five years from now, by 2019.”

Philippines plans to adopt Japan’s Integrated Services Digital Broadcast-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard over European standard.

Mobistar delays entry in cable TV market

Belgian operator Mobistar is delaying the rollout of its broadband and TV offer on cable until sometime next year.

The company said during its Q3 financial presentation that it is ready to launch services over third-party networks, both technically and in terms of content, but is awaiting a regulatory decision on wholesale pricing before a full-scale rollout. Last January, the operator paid a total of €1.2m to Telenet and Brutélé-Tecteo in order to gain access to their cable networks.

In February 2014 Mobistar decided to appeal against the cable wholesale pricing decisions made by the regulators on December 11, 2013. It also decided to intervene in the appeals launched by the cable operators against the same decisions, as well as to intervene in the appeal cases launched by the same cable operators against the decisions on the qualitative aspects of the cable wholesale reference offers of September 3, 2013. The next steps in these proceedings depend on the result of the appeal against the market analysis decisions, the company said.

However, despite the delays, Mobistar confirmed it will have its first very high-speed broadband and digital TV cable users connected before the end of the year, as the first step of its progressive entry in the convergent market.

“We are increasingly seeing the positive results of the bold decisions we have taken, when launching our three-year transformation program 21 months ago. Our 4G network leadership is now undisputed and is increasingly being recognised by the Belgian consumers. Now that we have reengineered our distribution, our segmented product portfolio is delivering on its potential. In the third quarter of 2014 Mobistar is growing its retail postpaid customer base while not yet being a convergent player. The upcoming launch of Mobistar’s own cable offerings will reinforce this newfound momentum,” commented Jean-Marc Harion, CEO of Mobistar.

Last September, Mobistar announced details of its cable offer.

Forthnet-Multichoice merger signals takeover moves

Forthnet is to merge its pay-TV subsidiary Forthnet pay TV telecommunication services and holdings (FMH) and Multichoice Hellas. The move is being seen as a possible precursor to a takeover of the company.

Forthnet recently lost two key sports rights, Champions League and Europa League, to rival OTE. The Deutsche Telekom-owned venture has tabled a €300 million bid for the pay-TV company.

Vodafone and Wind Hellas are also in the frame. The two companies have been looking to wrest control of MultiChoice Hellas from Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), the biggest shareholder in Forthnet, since the summer.

Russian operators face revenue threat

Russia’s Ministry of Communications may prevent cable and DTH operators from charging for public channels.

To this effect, saysVedomosti, it has posted proposed amendments to the laws “On the Media” and “On Communications” on its site for public discussion.

Although the services distributed by Russia’s first and second DTT multiplexes are defined as public channels in the amendments, the total number of such channels is not known.

The Ministry of Communications has promised to publish a list but has yet to do so.

DIRECTV subscribers up 36% in Uruguay at end-1H 2014

The Uruguayan communications regulator Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (URSEC) has released a survey of the telecommunications market in Uruguay up to the end of June 2014.

The number of Pay TV subscribers at mid-year was 685,591, up from 620,926 at the end of June 2013, a 10.4% increase. Over the preceding 12 months DIRECTV Uruguay grew by over 36% whilst the remainder of the market only grew by 5.2%.

Pay TV evolution

             June 2008  June 2009  June 2010  June 2011  June 2012  June 2013  June 2014
             ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Subscribers    398,014    438,729    470,314    526,093    561,268    620,926    685,591

              End-2008   End-2009   End-2010   End-2011   End-2012   End-2013
             ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Subscribers    417,206    448,204    491,000    536,812    592,699    652,006

Pay TV Market Shares

                                                    June 2012            June 2013            June 2014
                                          -------------------  -------------------  -------------------   Y-o-Y
                                          Subscribers   Share  Subscribers   Share  Subscribers   Share  Growth
                                          -----------  ------  -----------  ------  -----------  ------  ------
DIRECTV (Directv de Uruguay LTDA)              62,904     11%      103,911     17%      141,800     21%   36.5%
Cablevisión (Bersabel S.A.)                    60,101     11%       61,820     10%       64,822     10%    4.9%
TCC (Tractoral S.A.)                           48,520      9%       50,606      8%       55,300      8%    9.3%
Nuevo Siglo (Riselco S.A.)                     48,955      9%       49,413      8%       49,454      7%    0.1%
Montecable (Monte Cablevideo S.A.)             50,038      9%       47,606      8%       48,647      7%    2.2%
Punta Cable (Consorcio San Fernando)           25,263      4%       27,066      4%       27,316      4%    0.9%
Multiseñal (Multicanal S.A.)                   18,251      3%       18,292      3%       19,265      3%    5.3%
Cablevisión (Space Energy Tech S.A.)           16,166      3%       18,029      3%       19,605      3%    8.7%
Cable Plus (Cable Plus S.A.)                   15,403      3%       16,346      3%       16,378      2%    0.2%
Cablevisión (Audomar S.A.)                     14,006      2%       14,903      2%       15,670      2%    5.1%
Cablevisión (Visión Satelital)                                      12,228      2%       13,400      2%    9.6%
  Others                                      201,661     36%      200,706     32%      213,934     31%    6.6%
                                          -----------          -----------          -----------          ------
TOTAL                                         561,268              620,926              685,591           10.4%

Airtel and Samsung launch India's first IDTV

Airtel and Samsung launch India’s first Integrated Digital TV (iDTV)

• Take the lead in introducing a television with a built-in Smart Card that will allow customers to enjoy TV viewing without an external set top box
• Enable a smart TV viewing experience with minimal signal loss and maximum audio & video clarity

NEW DELHI — Airtel digital TV, the Direct-To-Home (DTH) service from Bharti Airtel, today announced its partnership with Samsung to launch India’s very first Integrated Digital TV (iDTV). As part of this innovation – Samsung’s range of SmartDirect TVs will come designed with an in-built Airtel digital TV Smart Card which will enable DTH signal reception without the need for customers to install an external set-top-box (STB). The Integrated Digital TV (iDTV) capability will deliver a smart TV viewing experience for customers through minimal signal loss and maximum audio & video clarity while also ensuring maximum power savings.

“We at Airtel digital TV are always looking for new ways to deliver an experience for our customers that is truly innovative and world class. In line with this commitment, we are today excited to announce our collaboration with Samsung to launch the Integrated Digital TV and introduce the Indian market to its next phase of TV viewing experience”,said Mr. Shashi Arora, CEO – DTH & Media, Bharti Airtel.

Developed post an extensive R&D, the iDTV is a smart solution that not only enables a hassle free TV setup that has fewer wires but will also assist in reduction in signal loss (between the set-top-box and TV). iDTV offers a single remote solution powered by an intuitive user guide. “The in-built Airtel DTH smart card supports direct signal reception from the dish antenna, thus enabling crystal clear audio-video quality and making these Samsung TVs the smartest available in the marketplace today”, added Mr. Arora.

Commenting at the launch, Mr. Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Electronics said, “We are thrilled to partner with Airtel to launch India’s First Smart Direct TV with an in-built iDTV technology in India. The clutter free, convenient and ultimate viewing experience offered by iDTV showcases Samsung’s commitment to provide consumer-centric products. Samsung has consistently revolutionised the television segment by introducing superior products, modern technology and distinctive content to provide the latest and best home entertainment experience to our consumers.”

Powered by HD technology, iDTV creates a more immersive viewing experience coupled with intuitive user interface giving customers greater control of their entertainment experience. The iDTV set includes the Samsung SmartDirect TV and Airtel Digital TV’s Smart Card. It is now available across Samsung Plazas and all leading multi-retail outlets for prices at starting INR 44,900/-. Customers purchasing the all new iDTV can also enjoy a limited period introductory offer that offers 4 months of free subscription of Airtel DTH services. Customers can call 12148 or 18605006500 for more details.

Subisu Cablenet launches digital TV in Nepal

KATHMANDU — Cable television provider, Subisu Cablenet, has announced Nepal’s first digital TV service. The service, called CLEAR TV, will be available from 1st Nov, 2014.

CLEAR TV provides both standard and high definition channels, using MPEG-4 compression. Users require a set top box (STB) with embedded conditional access in order to receive the encrypted service.

CLEAR TV will initially be available in the Kathmandu valley, with further cities added at a later date. The set-top box is priced at Rs 4,500 ($45), excluding VAT. The service itself will cost Rs 500 (~$5) per month.

Telemach buys mobile operator

Slovenia’s leading cable operator Telemach has acquired the mobile company Tusmobil from Tus Holding for an undisclosed fee.

Tusmobil is the fastest growing mobile company in the country, with nearly 300,000 customers.

Telemach, on the other hand, is a member of the United Group, which represents pay-TV and broadband operators in South East Europe.

Claiming a total of 1.9 million cable and DTH, broadband internet and mobile telephony subscribers, its other members include SBB, the largest cable operator in Serbia; Telemach, the largest cable operator in Bosnia & Herzegovina; and Total TV, the largest DTH platform in the region.

The group also has a 10,000km fibre-optic network covering large areas of Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

MTG considering Raduga TV sale

Modern Times Group (MTG) may sell its stake in the DTH platform Raduga TV now that President Putin has signed off controversial legislation limiting foreign ownership in Russian media companies to 20%.

Speaking to Broadband TV News, Per Lorenz, head of group public relations at MTG, said the company is exploring all options available to it.

Meanwhile, Interfax has reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has given the green light for Digital Broadcasting, which is owned by Sistema Mass Media, to acquire 100% of DalGeoKom (Raduga TV). A source told the agency that Digital Broadcasting is considering the purchase of Raduga TV as part of the satellite broadcasting strategy of the AFK Sistema group of companies but that no decision has yet been made.

Interestingly, another Sistema group member – MTS, a leading mobile company and pay-TV provider – is also eyeing Raduga TV. It was expected to launch its own DTH platform recently but it is has yet to make its debut.

Raduga TV is currently jointly (50%) owned by MTG and Continental Media.

The change in the law will also affect CTC Media, in which MTG owns a 37.9% stake.

In a statement on the company’s website, Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG president and CEO, said: “This is obviously a complex situation and we are working closely with local management and our advisers to review the various options available to us moving forward. It is too early to come with a solution for each of the affected businesses, but we are looking at a range of potential outcomes. We have built up these entertainment businesses over 20 years and the channels are some of the most watched in Russia, so we will do all that we can to preserve the interests of all of our stakeholders.”

Subscriber numbers to fall for 40 of Europe's Pay TV operators

Pay TV revenues to fall for half of Europe’s top operators

BSkyB’s proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s stakes in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia will create a pay TV operation that will rival Liberty Global in subscriber terms. However, with limited pay TV subscriber expansion possible for their existing assets, both companies will not want to stop there.

BSkyB has many plans encourage German and Italian subscribers to take up value-added services. Liberty Global is doing the same – including the conversion of its analog cable subscribers.

Beyond this, the number of takeover targets is diminishing due to several recent high profile acquisitions– including approval for Liberty Global to buy Ziggo. Vodafone has upped its activity in the fixed environment, such as the purchases of Kabel Deutschland and Spain’s Ono.

Covering 103 operators in 26 countries that represent 84% of subscribers, the European Pay TV Operator Forecasts report reveals how well the major players will perform – and shows which operators are the most attractive acquisition targets.

The report from Digital TV Research forecasts that subscriber numbers will fall for 40 of these operators between 2013 and 2020, due to greater competition (including online TV & video) and analog cable subscribers defecting to (often cheaper) digital platforms.

On the other hand, Russian satellite TV platform Tricolor will gain 3.8 million subscribers between 2013 and 2020. Subscriptions will more than double for six operators (Telecom Italia, Spain’s Telefonica, Bulgaria’s Vivacom, the UK’s TalkTalk, Greece’s OTE and Russia’s Vimpelcom) between 2013 and 2020.

Total subscription and VOD revenues for the 103 operators increased from $33.7 billion in 2010 to $35.8 billion in 2013. However, the total will only grow to $36.2 billion by 2020. These operators accounted for 91% of European pay TV revenues in 2013.

Subscription and VOD revenues will fall for 50 of the 103 operators (49%) between 2013 and 2020, including six of the top 10 operators. These revenues are for subscriptions and VOD only, and therefore do not include other revenues such as broadband, telephony, advertising, equipment sales and rental, etc.

BSkyB will remain at the top of the league, recording $6.44 billion subscription and VOD revenues by 2020. Liberty Global closed the gap on BSkyB considerably with the acquisition of Virgin Media.

However, these two companies will be among the highest revenue losers, although France’s CanalSat will lose the most ($355 million) between 2013 and 2020. The largest gainers will be Sky Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland and Sky Italia. Revenues will more than double for Telecom Italia, Bulgaria’s Vivacom, Greece’s OTE and Hungary’s MinDig.

HD takes off in Russia

HD services are growing in popularity in Russia and will be watched in 24.5 million homes by the beginning of 2019.

Quoting a study by J’son & Partners Consulting on the audience of linear HD channels, TelecomDaily and AKTR report that the subscriber base for HD channels in the country stood at 9.65 million in the first half of this year, up from 7.1 million in the corresponding period in 2013. This will rise to 24.5 million in the next five years.

As of H1 this year, Tricolor TV had the highest share of the HD market (39.6%), followed by Rostelecom (27.6%), VimpelCom (11%), MTS (8.9%) and Orion Express (6.9%). Interestingly, HD channels no longer give operators a competitive advantage and are seen as a basic service. Rather, this may be offered by 4K video libraries, such as the one operated by ivi.ru.

Ultra HD broadcasting is unlikely to start in Russia before 2016-2017.

MTS quadruples HD offer---2013

Moscow-based Mobile Tele Systems has increased the number of available HD channels to 18, half of which are included in the basic TV package.

MTS customers with a basic digital TV subscription now have access to Channel One HD, Sport 1 HD, Russia HD, Fox HD, Rain HD, National Geographic HD, Candy TV HD, National Geographic Wild HD, as well as the HD promo channel.

In addition, customers can subscribe to premium channels including sports, entertainment and music channels such as Discovery HD Showcase, Animal Planet HD, KHL HD (Continental Hockey League), MTV Live HD, and others.

“Today in Russia about 40% of TV sets support HD, and people are actively replacing their CRT TVs with LCD and plasma sets, so within five years, most TV channels can switch to HD,” said Dmitry Bagdasaryan, director of fixed-line business and TV, MTS, “MTS customers can already get a new experience with a huge number of sports, educational, news channels, and movies with a living picture and multi-channel sound.”

In 2012, MTS launched digital broadcasting in all the cities it serves, which has allowed more than double the number of channels in the TV packages.

Currently, MTS provides services to three million pay-TV customers, two million homes subscribe to broadband internet access and one million customers of mobile TV.

MTS offers more than 150 news, entertainment, educational, sports, and HD-TV channels and has agreements with major rights holders, including those with Discovery, Viasat, Fox, Universal, Sony, and others.

Tongda Venture raises CNY 2.40 bn to fund Beijing Super TV acquisition

Shanghai Tongda Venture Capital has reported that it will raise over CNY 2.40 billion (USD 391 million) through private placement to finance the acquisition of Beijing Super TV, a division of China Digital TV, for CNY 3.20 billion (USD 522 million).

The company will issue over 231.88 million new shares issued at CNY 10.35 (USD 1.68) per share. Under terms of the agreement Tongda Venture is paying CNY 2.40 billion in cash, which will be funded from the private placement and over CNY 800 million (USD 130 million)-worth of shares.

China Digital TV which operates Beijing Super TV and Shanghai Tongda Venture Capital had entered into a framework agreement on June 13, 2014. Through China Digital’s Golden Benefit arm, it will have over 17.5% stake in Tongda Venture  and its 77.29 million shares will be subject to a 36 month lock-up

As per the terms, Cinda Investment which is the largest shareholder in Tongda Venture can subscribe for up to 8% in both Beijing Cyber Cloud and Beijing Joysee Technology, China Digital TV’s subsidiaries which are valued at CNY 350 million (USD 57 million) and CNY 240 million (USD 39 million), respectively.

Akado criticises rental high fees

The Russian cable operator Akado Telekom has complained to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) over what it sees as excessive fees charged by the Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS).

According to Vedomosti, MGTS, as of mid-2013, was estimated to control 8,700km, or around half, of the length of the city’s sewerage system.

In its complaint, Akado says that MGTS’s revenues from renting its ducts in 2013 amounted to just under R4.49 billion (€87.9 million), which was significantly more than what it obtained from leasing its sewerage system.

Akado Telekom claimed over one million cable TV customers as of late 2013, while its broadband customer total stood at 714,000.

ALi partners with Verimatrix

Taiwan-based chipset supplier, ALi Corporation, has integrated a revenue security solution, Video Content Authority System, from Verimatrix on its chipsets to provide digital rights managment for over-the-top and IPTV platform.

The ALi M3912 IPTV/OTT platform which is a compact HDMI dongle comes with HTML5 browser, it assures low power consumption and high efficiency. It includes a dedicated security CPU, offering secure content delivery within a hardware environment.

“The close working relationship of ALi and Verimatrix has provided a range of low cost video service security solutions to our customers and partners,” stated Steve Oetegenn, President of Verimatrix. “The availability of this latest OTT dongle integration provides an additional option to progressive pay-TV operators and Internet TV service providers that enables full protection of their brand and service revenues.”

“Secure content distribution and rights management have always been a major concern. ALi has been co-operating with Verimatrix in delivering security solutions for the pay-TV eco-system. We have put forth a number of STB conditional access solutions and are now answering to the rising security needs from the IPTV/ OTT market. Our collaborative work extends to hybrid DVB+OTT, IPTV/OTT solutions, which offer to combine both CA and DRM technologies,” said Der-shen Chen, General Manager – Open Internet Media Business Unit at ALi.

Nc+ to offer pre-pay

The Polish DTH platform nc+ will launch a pre-paid service on October 1.

Known as nc+ telewizja na karte, it will offer viewers 50 channels, 19 of which will be in HD, for PLN19.90 (€4.76) a month, with the first three months payable upfront.

During the first month, viewers will also be given access to 130 thematic channels, along with Canal+ services, in order to familiarize them with nc+’s wider offer. After this, they will be given the opportunity to stat with the pre-paid service or move to an nc+ subscription.

Users of the new service will be given the opportunity to receive more channels through a new dedicated service known as nc+ z umowa.

This will consist of a basic package of 84 channels, 27 in HD, and cost PLN29.90 a month upon signing a 12-month agreement.

Viewers will also be able to add Canal+ and HBO services to the package.

Nc+ was launched in March 2013 following the merger of the DTH platforms n and Cyfra+.

GS Group to implement satellite broadcasting project in Myanmar

GS Group has announced its plans for the implementation of the satellite broadcasting project in Myanmar in order to tap the pay-TV market. GS will establish technological and investment partnerships with companies of Myanmar.

GS had earlier submitted co-operation prospects for implementing the first mass satellite pay-TV platform, expansion of the TV viewing audience and creation of new jobs in Myanmar. The company had received approval on August 29 at an inter-government meeting.

“The GS Group competencies include implementing foreign broadcasting projects and their successful support based on positive experiences. We are ready to launch the broadcasting project in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar within a short time, which will be the first publicly available satellite TV in the country,” said Denis Budilov, Deputy Director of Foreign Broadcasting Projects of GS Group.

Telekom Austria/Telemach eye Slovenian deal

Telekom Austria and Telemach are looking into the possibility of acquiring Tusmobil, one of the largest mobile operators in Slovenia.

Quoting United Group, which owns Telemach, Finance reports that it is interested in all companies that may be on sale in Slovenia, ranging from Tusmobil and Debitel to T-2 and small cable operators.

However, it added that it could not add more at this stage as talks are ongoing.

The selling price for Tusmobil is understood to be in the region of €150 million.

Telekom Austria has a presence in Slovenia through a subsidiary named Si.mobil.

Earlier this year it acquired almost half the spectrum on offer in an auction for a fee of €64 million.

Ukraine considers TV strategy

Ukraine is looking into the possibility of significantly simplifying the licensing of TV channels.

Speaking in a working meeting with representatives of the media and government, Yuiy Artemenko, the head of the industry regulator (National Council), added that it is also looking into the possibility of must-carry services, which in future may be restricted to only public or public service broadcasting channels.

There was general agreement at the meeting that ASO will take place when at least 80% of the population can receive digital TV signals, either in the middle or at the end of next year.

Ukraine discusses digitisation

The Ukrainian regulator (National Council) has set finding an optimal path for the transition to digital broadcasting as one of its objectives.

Speaking in an international forum in Kiev, Yutiy Artemenko, the Council’s chairman, said that it was aware of the complexity of the process, problems of regional and local broadcasters and the right for every broadcaster currently offering analogue services to broadcast in digital.

Oleg Chernysh, a member of the National Council, meanwhile said that a plan for the phased transition to digital broadcasting should be in place by the end of this year.

Other issues discussed in the forum included the development of alternative Digital Network Broadcasting and recognition of the monopoly position of Zeonbud and regional and local DTT multiplexes.

Romania prepares new DTT tender

The Romanian regulator ANCOM has opened a public consultation on a tender it proposes to hold for a total of 61 DTT multiplexes.

Two of the multiplexes will be national, 40 regional and 19 local, with licences valid for 10 years.

The starting price for bids will be €300,000 for the national multiplexes, while that for the regional Bucharest multiplex will be €12,000 and a local multiplex, not serving a country, will be from €1,000.

The tender will be launched at the end of November, with the winners announced early in the New Year.

Separately, Mediafax reports that the public broadcaster TVR could launch two channels, focusing on education and the weather, in the transition to digital broadcasting.

ANCOM has already awarded licences for two national DTT multiplexes, with the first allocated to TVR.

The multiplex has capacity for 14 channels and the public broadcaster currently operates just five, namely TVR1, TVR2, TVR HD, TVR International and TVR News.

Bulgaria's Mtel launches satellite TV

Bulgaria’s largest mobile phone operator, Mtel, has launched direct-to-home satellite television broadcasting. The telco is offering up to 150 television channels with more than 20 in high definition (HD). There are three different subscription packages – Economy, Standard and Advanced – with HD channels available in all packages.

The Mtel satellite set-top box supports PVR functionality with the addition of an external drive via USB.

The service is broadcast on Eutelsat 16A at 16.0° East and can be received with a 60cm dish. Signals are uplinked from Telekom Austria’s Aflenz Teleport in the Austrian Alps.

Mtel is part of the Telekom Austria Group of companies.

GS develops satellite+terrestrial STB for Tricolor TV

(GS Group выпускает в продажу приставку для приема эфирного и спутникового сигнала)

Tuesday, September 16th, 2014 

New General Satellite set-top box receiving terrestrial and satellite signal entering the market

In September 2014 the GS Group investment and industry holding company launched a multiple-unit set-top box called the GS E212. It is the first unit design in the line of receivers under the General Satellite brand that is able to receive both satellite and terrestrial signals. An innovative solution that has been specifically developed for the largest Russian satellite operator, Tricolor TV is setting a new standard for digital TV equipment in the local market.

The multifunctional set-top box, GS E212 with the capability to support multiple streaming formats is designed to simplify users’ transition from familiar analog broadcasting to digital television, which is implemented within the All-Russian program of TV digitization within 2008-2019. According to the data by various analytical agencies, more than 60 million people in Russia now view satellite TV channels.

Currently, digital set-top boxes suitable to only receive one type of signal are used for satellite television viewing. To even gain access of regional content of federal TV channels including the first and second multiplexes, as well as regional DVB-T2 format channels, subscribers need to purchase and install additional equipment. The GS E212 multi-unit HD receiver that was developed by GS Group aims to eliminate additional costs to subscribers by combining FTA and Pay-TV into one device.

The design of the new set-top box comprises two independent tuners to receive DVB-T2 and DVB-S/S2 signals. Such a device allows satellite subscribers to gain access to content broadcasted by digital terrestrial television networks. First and second multiplex FTA channels will be continuously available for viewing regardless of the presence of signal.

GS Group’s new fully designed and manufactured set-top box device will now meet international standards and have specifications to support HD-TV channels. The GS E212 model is powered by two technological solutions, one being based on the central chip provided by STMicroelectronics, a GS Group partner, and the other being crypto processor GS Lanthanum which is an in-house development of GS Nanotech, a GS Group subsidiary.

GS E212 provides for the reception of DVB-S/S2 in the full range of 950-2150 MHz of coded FTA TV and radio channels, as well as DVB-T2 in the full range of 110-862 MHz of FTA TV and radio channels. Stingray, software developed by the GS Group for digital TV set-top boxes, has been enhanced specifically for the multiple-unit receiver. The device has an up-to-date graphical user interface, a set of built-in applications and games, a full spectrum of services like subtitles and teletext, as well as an attractive design.

The new set-top box GS E212 will feature the General Satellite unique electronic warranty. After registering the device through Internet, if a failure is detected, the customer only needs to contact a General Satellite authorized service center and would not need to present a receipt or warranty certificate to receive service. This innovative approach to service significantly simplifies the usage of this state-of-the-art subscriber equipment for users and is an important initiative from the GS Group to improve service quality.

“The GS E212 set-top box was designed with due regard for broadcasting digitization objectives in Russia and, in our opinion, will be in high demand by the consumer. It allows users to significantly save on their purchase of receiving equipment and to receive additionally to their satellite operator HD-channels all free-to-air terrestrial content broadcasted within the region with digital quality and supporting HD format. It will also save the customer from the need to use additional devices for receiving various types of signals”, commented Andrew Bezrukov, Director for Strategic Marketing, GS Group.

A 100,000 units batch of GS E212 digital set-top box will be available for retail sale by the end of autumn 2014.

iSat Africa takes capacity on Yamal-402 satellite for Central Africa

During the conference in Kenya “Gazprom Space Systems” and iSAT Africa signed the Contract

East Africa Com, held in Nairobi (Kenya) annually, is the regional conference where communication operators from Eastern Africa region assemble to discuss the directions for development of the industry. During the conference, GSS representatives directed negotiations with participants from the most important operators of this region. There was reached agreement on cooperation development and signed a contract with iSAT Africa, whereunder iSAT Africa (iSAT) will use capacity on Yamal-402 Southern Beam for the operation of the network being deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo and the rest of the Central African countries.

Dmitriy Sevastiyanov, GSS Director General, commented: “We are glad to welcome a new African partner on board our satellite. Gazprom Space Systems counts on a fruitful and long-term cooperation with such a well-known company as iSAT Africa.”

Santosh Sakpal, Technical Manager of iSAT added: “Yamal-402 satellite perfectly meets our requirements due to its high power and the wide Ku-band coverage zone, allowing us to use it for the small regional networks as well as for pan-African VSAT networks in Sub Sahara region. We are planning to further develop our services on this satellite and are very interested in the extension of our partnership.”

iSAT Africa, a subsidiary of Wananchi Group (Wananchi), is a leading player in satellite communications and broadcasting in Africa. Its main services include internet & data via satellite, TV & Radio broadcasting, telemedicine, video conferencing, distance learning, e-governance, trunking solutions and turnkey solutions.

Gazprom Space Systems, is a Russian satellite operator whose spacecraft now consists of three satellites: Yamal-202 (49E), Yamal-300K (90E) and Yamal-402 (55E). Yamal-402 satellite, constructed by Thales Alenia Space, was launched on the 8th of December 2012 and has four fixed Beams (European, Northern, Russian and Southern) and one Steerable Beam.

Nova Greece exceeds 500,000 pay TV subscribers

Greek pay TV provider Nova, part of the Forthnet S.A. group, has announced that it now has more than 500,000 subscribers.

Nova started its service by satellite on December 20, 1999. In 2010, Nova was the first company in Greece to offer high definition, and in 2011, the first to offer 3D. Nova, in addition, offers a web TV service, NovaGo.

Nova also offers broadband and provides one or more of its services to more than 20% of Greek households.

Univisa to launch DTH TV in Ecuador with Hansen Technologies

Friday, September 12th, 2014 

Univisa S.A. Signs ICC License with Hansen Technologies

Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) today announced that Univisa S.A. has signed a 5-year license agreement to use Hansen’s ICC Customer Care and Billing Solution for its operations in Ecuador. Under the agreement, Univisa S.A. will deploy Hansen’s ICC solution to bill for PayTV services offered through its Direct-To-Home (DTH) operation.

Univisa is the third largest PayTV operation in Ecuador with a Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) network covering more than 500,000 households and offering PayTV and wireless internet. The company will be launching a new DTH platform under Headend in the Sky (HITS) with an initial focus on pre-paid services. On this platform, Univisa will reach almost 3 million households, representing a significant growth opportunity for the company.

“This is an important deal for Hansen as it increases our footprint and momentum in the Latin American PayTV market. With more companies now operating under HITS, Univisa will be a key reference for Hansen as they continue to penetrate the Ecuadorian market” said Andrew Hansen, Hansen Technologies CEO.

Univisa considers their billing and customer care platform to be one of the key elements to success and a sustainable business plan, with a specific focus on service quality, service experience, innovation, reduced churn, subscriber base growth, and rapid time-to –market offers. The ICC platform’s convergent service capabilities, experience with integration to DTH operators, and Hansen’s ability to evolve with their customers’ changing needs – especially in the PayTV space – were all key to Univisa selecting the Hansen solution.

Roberto De la Cruz, Member of the Board of Univisa, said, “We chose Hansen because we believe they are the right partner for our business plan in this new, competitive environment. Their customer footprint and local support in Latin America, reliable and proven solution for DTH operators, seamless and fully-integrated solution, and fully deployed pre-paid model are all reasons we have chosen Hansen to enable our growing business.”

Russia's pay TV to grow to 45.3 million subscribers in 2018

J’son & Partners Consulting has released figures for pay TV in Russia to the end of the first half of 2014 with forecasts of the market’s development to 2018.

At the end of the first half of 2014, Russia had 37.1 million households receiving TV via cable, satellite or IPTV, up 6% compared with the end of 2013. J’son & Partners expects that total to reach 45.3 million households in 2018, with a household penetration of 83%, up from 68% today. The fastest growing segments are expected to be satellite and IPTV.

Source: J’son & Partners Consulting

The share of satellite TV increased to 39% at the end of June. The growth of satellite TV is mainly due to its low cost relative to other technologies, as well as independence from a fixed network and nationwide availability. Subscriber growth for satellite is driven by the operators Tricolor TV, NTV-Plus and Orion Express.

IPTV grew by 19% in the first half of 2014, to give a market share of 12%. Leading operators are Rostelecom, VimpelCom and MTS.

The growth rate of the cable TV segment was the slowest at 0.1%. Cable TV operators in Russia are in the process of modernising their networks and moving to DVB-C technology. Cable television had slightly less than half of the total pay-TV market (49%) at the end of the first half, down 3 percentage points compared with the end of 2013.

Pay TV subscriber base in Russia by technology (millions)

                              Growth               Growth
              2012   2013  2013/2012  1H2014  1H2014/2013
             -----  -----  ---------  ------  -----------
Total        31.86  35.09      10.2%    37.1         5.7%
 Satellite   11.05  13.09      18.5%   14.37         9.7%
 Cable       18.26  18.27      0.02%   18.28        0.07%
 IPTV         2.54   3.74      47.2%    4.46        19.2%

Source: J’son & Partners Consulting

The overall leaders in the Russian pay-TV market in the 1st half of 2014 were Tricolor TV (market share 29%), Rostelecom (21%), MTS (7%), ER-Telecom (7%) and Orion Express (6%). Tricolor TV increased its subscriber base by 5% in H1 2014.

Serbian pay-TV: the stats

The number of pay-TV subscribers has grown steadily in Serbia in the last few years and amounted to 1.55 million in 2013.

According to the Cable Operators Association of Serbia, it stood at 1.44 million a year earlier and less than one million (922,000) in 2008.

Cable penetration among the population has also increased, rising from 19.9% in 2012 to 21.62% last year. Cable accounted for 70% (1.09 million) of pay-TV subscribers, with DTH and IPTV claiming 216,000 and 244,000 customers respectively.

Interestingly, while the figures for cable and IPTV were up on the previous year’s 1.04 million and 177,000, that for DTH was lower than the 223,000 in 2012.

The percentage of cable homes receiving digital services also continues to grow, up from 11% in 2011 to 14% in 2012 and 18% last year. Digital cable services offer 78 channels, compared to analogue’s 54.

Pay-TV operators generated revenues of €125 million last year (€109 million in 2012), with cable accounting for 67%, IPTV 19% and DTH 14%.

Meanwhile, there were 1.4 million broadband connections in Serbia in 2013, Revenues, up 20% on a year earlier, accounted for 14.5% of the electronic communications market.

Orange TV grows in Romania

The DTH platform operated by Orange in Romania now has over 110,000 subscribers.

Speaking in an edition of Live ZF at the International Digital Forum 2014 and quoted by Media Expres, Jean Francois Fallacher, the CEO of Orange Romania, added that subscribers to the service, which was launched 15 months ago, are increasingly accessing it on various devices.

Smartphones (60%) are the most used, followed by tablets (30%) and computers and laptops (10%).

Orange TV currently offers viewers 111 channels, 48 of which are in HD.