PIKE Conference, Ossa. Interest in cable-delivered HD services is growing rapidly in Russia, according to Yuri Pripachkin, the president of the country’s national cable association AKTR.
While they were being taken up by 100 subscribers each month when first launched last year, the figure is now 100 a day. Pripachkin also said that consolidation is likely to continue in the Russian pay-TV market, which will probably come to be dominated by 5-6 players in the next two or three years, and also expressed concerns about copyright legislation.
When questioned by Broadband TV News, Pripachkin said that he did not believe DTH posed a threat to cable in Russia despite the recent growth in satellite take-up and Tricolor’s takeover by Gazprom Media.
Cable is strong in Russia, with penetration levels in cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg higher than in most of Western Europe and comparable to those in the US.