Russia’s crowded DTH marketplace, which is already served by five platforms, will soon see the launch of more services.
Several local reports on the proceedings of the NATEXPO and 12th International Congress of NAT (National Association of Broadcasters) quote Alexander Zharov as saying that a number of companies are registering to provide services via four Express AM satellites, which will be launched at a cost of $400-500 million (€268.1-335.2 million) between 2011-13.
These companies are understood to include Gazprom Media, which already operates NTV-Plus and recently secured ownership of Tricolor TV, the country’s leading DTH platform in terms of subscribers, and Svyazinvest.
DTH services are also currently provided in Russia by Platforma HD, Orion Express and Raduga TV.