Skylink ponders move into Hungary

The leading Czech/Slovak DTH platform Skylink has received a licence from the Czech Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) to broadcast in neighbouring Hungary.

However, interviewed by Digizone, Jaromir Glisnik, the CEO of TradeTec, one of the platform’s two operators, played down the possibility that it would soon start to operate a service in the country.

He added, however, that Hungary would be a “very logical market” for Skylink to expand to. What is more, if it did the platform would almost certainly use the 23.5 degrees East position and take advantage of the fact that SES Astra has recently lost UPC Direct as a customer in Hungary.

UPC Direct, which is moving to one degree West, has hitherto been located at 19.2 degrees East.

Skylink is the leading DTH platform in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, claiming a combined total of over one million pre-paid customers in the two countries as of this April.

Hungary is already served by four DTH platforms – UPC Direct, Digi TV, Hello HD and Sat TV – and so, conceded Glisnik, would be a difficult market for Skylink to break into.