A new front has opened up in the war between the leading providers of pay-TV services in Romania. It will see RCS/RDS go head to head with the incumbent telco Romtelecom in the provision of IPTV services in what is still a very underdeveloped market.
According to ZF, RCS/RDS, which is already the country’s leading provider of cable and DTH services, has launched IPTV services in around 10 cities including the capital, Bucharest. Provided jointly with a company named Crosspoint, these are still understood to be operating on a trial basis and can be received with equipment costing RON10 (€2.33) a month to rent.
Romtelecom launched its IPTV service, named Dolce Interactiv, in December 2009 and it was available in 10 cities as of mid 2010.
The telco currently has around one million TV subscribers, the vast majority of whom receive its DTH service Dolce.
Prior to the launch of Dolce Interactiv, IPTV in Romania was largely confined to small services operating chiefly in Bucharest.