Step forward for DTT in Ukraine
Ukraine has activated DTT transmitters in nine further locations, bringing the total number in operation to 12. According to Ivan Omelianiuk, general director, Kvant-Efir, this will almost double the number of people covered by digital terrestrial signals from 6 million to 11 million. Ukraine currently has a single multiplex DTT platform operated by a company named Ukraine Digital Network (UDN) and supplied with transmission equipment by Kvant-Efir. It offers viewers 9-10 FTA channels and can be watched with HD receivers – HD DTT channels are due to be introduced this July – costing less than $50-60 (€36.0-43.2). However, Omelianiuk says the service is struggling to make an impact on the marketplace, with viewers already typically able to receive 13-15 analogue channels, and more in large cities such as Kiev. As a result, only around 50,000 set-top boxes have been sold to date.

UPC plays down Polish cable consolidation
Simon Boyd, the president of UPC Polska, has spoken out for the need for consolidation amongst the leading cable operators in Poland. However, in a wide-ranging interview in Wirtualne Media, he conceded that such a scenario is unlikely to happen soon. He also revealed that UPC Polska has previously held take-over talks with smaller operators but that these failed to result in a transaction. Speaking more generally about UPC Polska’s activities, Boyd said that the company has invested more in rolling out its VOD service than in ultra-fast broadband internet access. He also revealed that it plans to launch a channel on its VOD service offering specific content from TV channels. Furthermore, while confirming the operator plans to offer its subscribers more HD channels, this would not be at any cost, as it regards the prices charged by some owners of such channels to be on the high side. Boyd also said that its Fiber Power service would be available to all UPC subscribers in Warsaw shortly. Rollout of the service is currently being focused on four cities – Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice and Gdansk – and all its internet customers should have access to it by the end of the year. Boyd also revealed that UPC Polska might follow in the footsteps of its competitors by becoming an MVNO, though he was non-committal on such a development.

ER-Telecom aims for top spot
ER-Telecom plans to become the leading cable operator in Russia by 2014, according to its CEO Andrei Senerikov. Quoted in RBC Daily, he said 2009 was the first year the company broke even, with a net margin of 25%, though its growth was lower than in previous years. At present ER-Telecom claims a 7% share of the broadband segment and 8% of the cable TV market in Russia. Focussing on expanding into 90 cities with a population of over 200,000, it aims to raise its market share to 20% by 2014, achieving a capitalisation of up to $5 billion (€3.58 billion) and claiming 10 million subscribers. ER-Telecom currently has a presence in 17 towns and cities and is the market leader in 12, with shares of between 35-60%. Investment for its expansion will be from its own resources and outside investment, in the latter instance raising up to $500 million. Western investment companies are understood to be interested in ER-Telecom, which may look to secure the $500 million in stages rather than all at once. ER-Telecom is also looking into the possibility of holding an IPO.

Hungarian DTT on a high
The Antenna Hungaría-operated DTT platform MinDig TV ended 2009 on a high, with the number of DVB-T MPEG-4 compatible receivers sold in December being 67% up on the previous month. DVB-T MPEG-4 HD set-top box sales meanwhile grew by 91% over the same period. As of the end of December, 4.4% of all Hungarian households had DVB-T receivers at home, while among terrestrial households the figure was a much higher 19.7%. The boost in sales was down to a campaign in December that offered two additional channels for a year to buyers of MinDig TV stickered set-top boxes during the month. All told, the platform attracted 10,000 new users in December alone. MinDig TV has been further boosted by the news that the Hungarian Army has permitted the partial cancellation of the present power restrictions in Budapest. This should significantly improve the reception of the platform’s two multiplexes in the city.

Cyfrowy Polsat launches wireless internet
Poland’s leading DTH platform Cyfrowy Polsat has launched a wireless new broadband internet service. Employing HSPA+ technology, it provides customers with 200 MB for only PLN1 (€0.25) a month for the entire length of their contact agreement. The ‘Na start’ package in the offer can be supplemented with a further 1 GB for PLN30 a month and 3 GB for PLN50 a month. The service is accessible through decoders produced by the Chinese company ZT and costing from only PLN1 upwards depending on the length of contract. In the first stage of the service’s rollout, it will be available to a potential 20 million people and some 40% of Cyfrowy Polsat’s subscribers, who numbered 3.2 million at the end of last year. Cyfrowy Polsat has also launched a new mobile telephony service with a special offer providing 30 minutes usage for only PLN1.

Russian copyright deal draws nearer
The Russian Cable TV Association (AKTR) will sign an agreement with the Russian Authors’ Society (RAO) in the first quarter of this year. The news was given to Lenta by AKTR’s president Yuri Pripachkin and RAO’s deputy DG Igor Bazilevsky. Bazilevsky added that the only reason the agreement has not yet been signed is that copyright societies still do not know the amount they will receive from members of the AKTR. He also said that Kosmos TV and ER-Telecom, two of the country’s five leading cable operators, are refusing to sign the agreement. However, this has been denied by a spokeswoman for ER-Telecom, while Kosmos TV has so far refused to comment.

Multimedia goes mobile
The Polish cable operator Multimedia Polska has moved into mobile telephony, launching a new voice service known as MobilFON. Speaking to Wirtualne Media, the company’s president Andrzej Rogowski said he expects the service to secure several thousand subscribers and MobilNet, a mobile internet service operated with jointly with the mobile company P4, “umpteen thousand”. MobilFON will be accessible through two types of Nokia handsets employing WiFi technology. Multimedia Polska is the fourth largest cable operator in Poland and earlier this month announced it had secured over 100,000 digital TV subscribers.

Akado outlines expansion plans
The Russian cable operator Akado is looking at various possibilities of expanding within Moscow and surrounding area. Quoted in Cableman, its president Mikhail Silin said that this could include entering into partnerships as the company seeks to grow its subscriber base by 15-20% a year. Akado currently covers 17 municipal and urban districts within a 30-50km radius of the Russian capital and claims around 980,000 subscribers. Its digital TV offer consists of 190 channels, of which 12 are in HD. Interestingly, over 140 companies are licensed to provide cable services in Moscow and environs.

Norkring reveals Slovenian DTT details
Norkring d.o.o, the Slovenian subsidiary of Norkring International AS, has announced plans for the launch of what will be the country’s second DTT multiplex. According to the company, it has reached agreements with six broadcasters for carriage on the multiplex (‘B’), which will begin its commercial operation on September 1 this year. Multiplex B is expected to reach over 85% of households in Slovenia before the country officially completes ASO on December 1. The first multiplex (A) is already used by Slovenia’s public broadcaster RTV Slo. Norkring International AS, which is part of Telenor Broadcast Holding, was awarded a 10-year licence for Multiplex B from Slovenia’s Agency for Post and Electronic Communications (APEK) in December 2008.

Russian IPTV service heads East
The Russian telco VimpelCom plans to extend its IPTV service Beeline TV to Urals region this autumn. Cableman reports that the service, which is currently available only in Moscow and St Petersburg, will also be offered in Yekaterinburg, the main city in the region. Although IPTV penetration in Yekaterinburg is currently low, VimpelCom expects it will reach around 70% of high-rise buildings via its FTTB network by the end of this year. Beeline TV will offer viewers in the city 130 TV channels, five of which will be in HD, at a cost similar to that currently charged by cable operators. However, Beeline TV will have the advantage of also including a number of interactive features. IPTV is taking off rapidly in Russia. Cableman quotes figures by ComNews Research that predict the market will grow by 63% this year to reach around 1.6 million households.

Back to top

Chris Dziadul Reports Switching off Russia and the CIS countries are operating to a different digitisation timetable to the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, with ASO in almost all set for 2015. However, even this still distant deadline is unlikely to be met in some cases.

Digitisation in Russia and the CIS was discussed in some detail by Ivan Omelianiuk, general director of the Ukrainian company Kvant-Efir, speaking at the Digital Switchover Strategies conference earlier this week in London. In the specific case of Russia, it also received considerable coverage this week at the CSTB annual conference and exhibition in Moscow.

Mr Omelianiuk argued that the economic crisis and political issues have affected the digitisation process in most post-Soviet countries. Furthermore, in his view lack of funding and the absence of proper legislation have effectively put back the national rollout of DTT in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan by at least a year.

He concluded that without “radical government remedies”, some post-Soviet countries are unlikely to complete ASO even by 2015.

When seen in these terms, the switchover situation elsewhere in CEE looks decided healthy. Huge progress has already been made in such countries as Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, while Estonia will become the first in the region to complete the process on July 1 this year.

That is not to say that some countries further east will soon also not be making progress. Russia, in particular, has a strategy in place that it seems to be constantly refining and has indeed launched its first DTT multiplex.

Earlier this week its deputy minister of communications and mass communications announced that viewers in all major population centres would be offered up to 13 TV channels by 2015 – a huge improvement, given that many (certainly outside the big cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg) currently make do with only two or three.

However, the ambitions seem to go much further, with the plan being to eventually offer everyone in major population centres throughout the country up to 24 SD channels on three multiplexes free of charge. HD channels and mobile TV are also on the agenda.

Though there are undoubtedly still major obstacles to overcome, it is probably safe to assume that Russia and most CIS countries, including Belarus and Ukraine, will quickly make up for lost time in the digitisation process.

Advertising: Brian Payne +44 20 8977 4398
Email Brian

Subscribe/Change Details: By Email | RSS | Twitter | Facebook