The Israeli cablenet HOT is losing tens of millions of shekels a year as it struggles to deal with the pirating of its signals. The company estimates that around 150,000 – some 20% of its subscriber base – are illegally tapping into its signals.
The loss in income comes not just from the loss of revenue, but the loss in viewing quality for bone fide subscribers, and the technical faults created by the unlicensed viewers. In some areas the illegal viewing has led to a total blackout for subscribers.
Fortunately, the situation is coming to an end as the 180,000 analogue subscribers will shortly be upconverted to the digital service.