Competition impacts Portuguese cable

Portuguese cable operators are feeling the heat from new competitors in the market, according to the latest figures published by telecoms regular Anacom.

The total figure of people subscribing to a TV platform amounted to 2.3 million at the end of March 2009, up 39,000 from the previous quarter and 257,000 compared with the same quarter last year.

With 63% of all homes subscribing to a platform, cable still took up the largest share, but lost 1.8% as compared with the previous quarter.

Satellite DTH was the second largest platform with one out of four homes taking a satellite service.

The various cable operators are still building their networks and now 4.3 million are passed. This growth reflects the expansion of the Group ZON network, especially in the North and in Lisbon.

In Q1, the total number of actual cable subscribers was 1.46 million, 1.1% less than in the previous quarter and 2.5% less than in the corresponding quarter. This equalled a loss of 16,000 in the quarter and 37,000 compared with the previous year. About 37% of all homes passed by cable subscribed to cable TV.

DTH reception stood at 584,000, which was 2,000 down compared with the previous quarter, but about 85,000 up compared with last year. This growth was mainly due to the success of the PT Comunicações DTH service.

The number of DSL (IPTV) subscribers and FTTH homes stood at 282,000, up 58,000 compared with the previous quarter.