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Articles & publications
28.05.2010
Svyazinvest targets TVComNews, Tatyana Kapustina
Svyazinvest holding, which has a 3% share of the Russian paid television network, is looking to conquer 17% of this market by 2015. The company has set its sights on rolling out cable TV and IP-television services, and also intends to enter a new area – the satellite TV segment, where it expects to command a 25% share.
This news was announced yesterday at the International Forum for Fixed-Line and Cellular Telecom Operators, which was arranged by Vedomosti, first deputy general director of Svyazinvest Alexander Provotorov said. In order to control 17% of the paid TV market, Svyazinvest plans to roll out cable TV and IP television services using its existing platforms.
In addition, the company is planning to enter the satellite television services market: “Telecommunications operators do not have a presence on this market and we’ll try to gain a foothold in this segment. The size of this market is comparable to the cable TV market, but it will grow at a considerably faster pace, so we would like to be a large player on this market”, Alexander Provotorov said.
According to the holding’s estimate, by 2015 the value of the satellite television market could be as much as $1.1 bln, compared to $347 mln in 2009. The merged Rostelecom expects to receive 25% of this market in 2015. Promotion of satellite TV is to focus mainly on small cities and rural areas.
At the end of 2009 the RF government approved the reorganization of Svyaznivest in the form of a merger of seven RTOs, Central Telegraph and Dagsvyazinform with Rostelecom.
Svyazinvest focuses on rolling out IPTV in large cities. The merged Rostelecom aims to command 50% of this market (the Svyazinvest Group of companies currently has 39% of this segment). According to Alexander Provotorov, the plan is to raise the number of IPTV subscribers by promoting this service, first and foremost, in large cities, and also by bundling IPTV services with broadband Internet and voice solutions.
The merged Rostelecom expects its share of the cable TV services market to remain at the same level – 4%. Incidentally, one of the largest players on the cable TV market – regional holding ER Telecom – intends to become a leader on this market by 2014. “Our goal is to gain leadership positions on the Russian Internet and cable TV market with at least a 20% share in terms of revenue by 2014”, the company said in a statement.
The number of paid TV subscribers in Russia increased by 21% to 14.5 mln in 2009, while market value gained 6% up to $830 mln (see ComNews article dated May 18, 2010). These data are given in a research note published by J’son & Partners Consulting. The authors of this research assume that in the coming years the market will continue to grow and the number of paid TV household subscriber base will reach 22.5 mln by as early as 2014. By this time, revenue from the provision of paid television to households will go up to $1.53 bln. The total value of the paid TV market should amount to $1.561 bln in 2015, compared to $992 mln in 2009.
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