ER Telecom secures funding

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has issued bonds worth a total of R3 billion (€42.2 million).

ComNews reports they have a maturity of three years, with each one having a nominal value of R1,000. Generating 12.75% a year, they will see the company’s debt load become much higher than the industry average.

Funds from the bonds will be used to increase the scale of ER Telecom’s business, both through organic growth and the launch of new products, along with M&As. In total, ER Telecom has allocated up to R30 billion for this expansion.

Quoting analysts, ComNews says that there has recently been growing interest in issuing bonds by telcos in the Russian market, MegaFon, for instance, has approved one worth R80 billion.

In the case of ER Telecom, its options of obtaining a loan from a bank were limited and it had no plans for an IPO.

ER Telecom secures new asset

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has secured permission to buy 100% of the St Petersburg-based company Vest Koll.

According to Kommersant, Vest Koll attracted interest from several other prospective buyers, including Rostelecom and Megafon, but that that from ER Telecom was the strongest.

It adds that Vest Koll was established in 1996 and was most recently owned by the Cyprus-registered Wintergate Holdings Ltd.

The company currently has 350,000 B2C and 25,000 B2B customers.

Russian cable ownership dispute intensifies

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has said it will appeal against a decision by the arbitration court in the Yaroslavl region over its acquisition of the operator YaTS.

Comnews reports that the court dismissed a claim by ER Telecom against the regional office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) declaring the sale of YaTS illegal.

ER Telecom was one of two bidders in an auction for YaTS in February this year.

Although it won and the deal received the approval of FAS before being closed in March, FAS changed its mind following a protest from the deputy of the Yaroslavl regional duma, who claimed that YaTS was sold for much less than its market value.

YaTS is the leading pay-TV operator in Yaroslavl, providing services to around 70% of the city’s households.

Local production of STBs for ER-Telecom begins

The first batch of TV set-top boxes has rolled off the production line in Russia

In Perm, the Morion plant has started serial production of set-top boxes providing access to digital TV. By the end of the year, based on Dom.ru order, over 100 thousand STB Dom.ru TV Mini will be assembled at the Morion plant. 3-year production turnover will total about RUB 4 billion.

Assembly, software installation and testing are performed at a new specialized production line at the Morion plant. The line deploys modern equipment that meets the principles of lean technologies and utmost ergonomics. The assembly site has 25 new workplaces.

Previously, Dom.ru TV Mini were assembled by Korean KAON company, today the company supplies the parts and controls the quality of assembly. The localization of production in Russia is a part of Dom.ru strategy: “The launch in the market of the equipment produced locally will provide access to advanced technologies and will allow using them for further economic development”, notes Andrey Semerikov, General Director of the company.

Prior to the launch of production in Russia, ER-Telecom (Dom.ru brand), Morion and Kaonmedia Ltd. signed a trilateral cooperation agreement at the International Economic Forum in Saint-Petersburg.

In 2016, it is planned to assemble up to 1 million KAON set-top boxes at Morion, allowing the company to fully transfer to our country the production of hybrid set-top boxed for the operators in Russia and the CIS countries.

Dom.ru TV Mini allows watching digital and HD channels on any TV, including outdated models. The compact device is connected to the TV via HDMI connector (or a special adapter), it is easy to setup and managed by a special control panel. Also, Dom.ru Mini opens the access to certain additional functions of digital TV, including TV guide (e-program), programs recording to an external USB-drive and their pausing, choice of channel language, parental control (password to the channels), creating personal channel lists. By connecting Dom.ru TV Mini, a user can watch up to 187 digital channels with 62 of them – in HD format.

ER Telecom adds Multiroom

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom, which employs the brand name Dom.ru, has launched a Multiroom service.

It allows Dom.ru TV subscribers, employing the Dom.ru TV Mini set-top box or a cam module, both of which can be rented, to watch different channels on up to five TV sets at the same time.

Installation is free, with the service subsequently costing R50 (€0.7) a month.

Dom.ru TV offers viewers up to 187 channels, 62 of which are in HD.

According to ER Telecom, over half of apartments in Russia now have at least 2-3 TV sets.

ER Telecom expands multiscreen service

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom, which operates under the brand name Dom.ru, has expanded its multiscreen service to mobile devices.

It now allows its existing subscribers to watch content on up to five additional devices – tablets, smartphones and PCs – for no additional charge.

In total, they can receive over 60 TV channels, plus a selection of films and TV series, on mobile devices connected to the internet via Wi Fi, 3G, 4G/LTE and a speed of 300Kbps.

ER Telecom launched its multiscreen service in January this year.

Russian cableco sets ambitious goals

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom plans to grow by 15-18% a year and double the size of its business within the next five years.

Furthermore, reports Kommersant, it aims to raise at least $500 million in an IPO in the next two to three years, depending on improved political and economic circumstances, while still retain control of the company.

Details of the new strategy were revealed by Andrei Kuzyayev, the company’s co-owner and president, just days after ER Telecom announced changes in its management structure.

The previous strategy, implemented in the period 2010-15, has seen ER Telecom’s share of the pay-TV and broadband markets in Russia grow to 13-14% and 12-13% respectively.

Under the new one, it aims to grow not only organically but also through acquisitions.

It also aims to secure a 45-50% penetration of services in each local market it is present in – something it currently achieves in five or six of the 56 cities it is present in.

ER Telecom turns in strong performance

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom (Dom.ru) had revenues of R16,515 million (€280.8 million) in the first nine months of this year, or 19% more than in the same period in 2013.

At the same time, its EBITDA was up 52% to R6,651 million and EBITDA eight percentage points higher at 40%.

Net profit was meanwhile R2,018 million, up 279% of the first nine months of 2013.

In summarising its activities in the first nine months of this year, the company says they included launching a 200 Mbps service in the city of Ekaterinburg.

ER Telecom continues to improve

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom maintained its recent improved financial performance in the first of the year, posting a net profit of R1,578 million (€32.8 million).

Its revenues amounted to R11,131 million, up 23% year-on-year, with TV contributing R3,261 million, or 29%, of the total.

EBITDA margin in H1 was 40%, or eight percentage points more than a year earlier, making it, according to the company, the best performing Russian and European telco.

ER Telecom also notes that Dom.ru TV’s digital HDTV subscriber total exceeded 500,000 in H1, only two years after its launch.

ER Telecom launches advanced STB

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has launched a new advanced set-top box in 55 cities throughout the country.

According to the company, it allows viewers to watch content on their ioS and Android mobile devices and for up to three days after it is broadcast.

It also gives access to such services as VOD. Customers who purchase the new box and connect to Dom.ru TV will be offered the Viasat Premium HD package, consisting of six premium HD channels, for three months for only R1 (€0.02) a month.

The new set-top box was developed by Humax, with Universal Electronics Universal Electronics manufacturing the remotes and the UK’s V2 Studios its unique exterior design.

Russia’s JetStyle created the user interface and NagraVision supplied content protection, with SOTAL Interactive being the general contractor.

ER Telecom becomes profitable

MARCH 21, 2014 10.54 EUROPE/LONDON BY CHRIS DZIADUL

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom generated a profit of R537 million (€10.75 million) in 2013.

Its revenues grew by 37% year-on-year to R19.02 billion, while EBITDA increased almost six-fold to R5.71 billion.

Revenues from TV services in 2013 amounted to R5.54 billion and ARPU for all segments was R323, including 18% VAT.

ER Telecom, which operates under the brand name Dom.ru, had 2.566 million cable TV subscribers at the end of 2013, up 9% on a year earlier.

Its broadband subscriber total meanwhile increased by 11% over the same period to 2.732 million.

ER Telecom’s total subscriber base stood at 3 million, with the number of RGUs at 5.742 million.

Triple play services were received by 14% of subscribers, one percentage more than a year earlier.

ER Telecom, by its own estimates, had a 12% share of the broadband market nationally in 2013 (up from 10% a year earlier) and a 13% (10%) share of the TV market.

In the 56 cities it has a presence, its broadband and pay-TV market shares were 28% and 38% respectively.

The Dom.ru TV service, one of the company’s main drivers for growth, was used by 400,000 subscribers, or one in six receiving cable and HD TV services.

ER Telecom starts video service

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has launched a sports video service.

Active since the beginning of the Sochi Winter Olympics, Sportbox.ru is available to HD users of Dom.ru TV via a TV portal and offers live coverage and highlights of the games, along with 30,000 clips of sports videos and pictures from leading tournaments of 60 sports.

Dom.ru, which is the brand name used by ER Telecom, also collaborates with a number of leading content providers and gives access to the video libraries of such services as IVI, Tvigle, Zoomby and Vidimax.

Its offer currently includes 159 digital TV channels, 50 of which are in HD.

2.5 million TV subscribers for Russia's ER-Telecom

ER-Telecom has announced that it has 2.51 million subscribers to its dom.ru cable and HDTV services. The company launched television on its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network in 2003 with 43 channels, signing up 20,000 customers in the first year.

dom.ru is now available in 56 Russian cities and provides 159 digital channels, 50 of which are in high definition.

Major Russian cable deal back on

ER Telecom and the Renova Group have agreed to continue exclusive talks on the sale of Akado to the former until the end of the year.

In a joint statement, the two parties say they are looking to develop an “optimal model for the interaction”, without going into any specific details.

ER Telecom is one of the leading cable companies in Russia and acquiring Akado, which operates in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, would allow it to enter the lucrative Moscow market.

Renova-owned Akado has been on the market for over three years and in that time attracted interest from a number of prospective buyers, including Svyazinvest and MTS.

A deal with ER Telecom was agreed earlier this year and exclusive negotiations got under way in the summer.

However, the deal looked close to collapse as recently as last week.

HD takes off in Russian ER Telecom

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom is now providing subscribers to its Dom.ru service with 50 HD channels.

This follows the addition of five more channels in the format to its offer – Discovery Science HD, Travel Channel HD, MTVHD, LifeNews HD and TLC HD – and now makes it the most comprehensive in the country.

ER Telecom introduced HD to its offer in July 2012 and the number of channels in the format has since been increased from 20 to 50.

It will be increased still further, to between 70-80, by the end of 2015.

HD services are becoming increasingly popular in Russia and can be received on up to 90% of TV sets sold in the country.

ER Telecom boosts HD offer

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has added the HD version of the sports channel Nash Futbol to its line-up.Nash Futbol is now the 45th HD channel available to Dom.ru TV subscribers and strengthens ER Telecom’s position as one of the leading distributors of HD services in Russia. Its offer now includes 14 sports channels, five of which are in HD.

Nash Futbol is the only HD football channel in Russia and broadcasts all 240 matches from the country’s premier league live each season.
Viewers in Russia can currently receive a total of 68 HD channels.

Green light for ER Telecom to buy AKADO

The Russian cable operator ER Telecom has been given the go-ahead by the country’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to acquire Moscow-based Akado.

The news was given to ITAR-TASS by Dmitry Rutenberg, the head of control of transport and communication at the FAS, though he declined to provide any specifics about the deal.

However, what is known from other sources is that two weeks ago ER Telecom filed a petition with the FAS to buy Akado for $1.01 billion (€765.3 million), including debt.

This was valuing Akado at $610 million net of debt, with financing for the transaction being obtained from VTB.

It currently claims a 10% share of both 10% the country’s broadband internet and cable TV markets.

ER-Telecom files application to buy into Akado

Russian service provider ER-Telecom has filed an application with the Federal Antimonopoly Service to acquire all or part of Akado, which is strong in the Moscow broadband and TV market, according to local reports.

A decision is expected in about a month. According to the reports, ER-Telecom is aiming to acquire 100% control of Akado.

The value of Akado has been estimated at between US$700-830 million (€535-635 million) including debt.

ER-Telecom, Russia’s number two broadband provider, has about 2.45 million revenue-generating units compared with Akado’s 770,000, which are, however, concentrated in the lucrative Moscow market where Akado is the number three player.

Akado posted revenues of RUB11.2 billion (€260 million) last year, with EBITDA of RUB4.22 billion.

Akado, majority-owned by Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova Media, has attracted interest from a number of other parties including, most recently, state railways-owned TransTeleCom.