Like many conferences, Digital TV Central and Eastern Europe, which this year was held in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, came in like a lion and out like a lamb.
However, the issues discussed in it were as equally important at the end as at the beginning and left many questions still unanswered.
Perhaps the most controversial presentation was given by Mirek Smyk, who prior to setting up his own consultancy played a pivotal role in establishing pay-TV operations in both Romania (Romtelecom) and the Czech Republic (Telefónica O2).
In his view, the rollout of DTT across the CEE could spell real trouble for the region’s pay-TV market for a very straightforward reason: savvy viewers will prefer to watch digital terrestrial channels and access broadband content for free rather than pay cable, DTH or IPTV subscriptions.
In one respect, pay-TV has everything to lose and not much to gain in some CEE markets where its take-up is extremely high. In Romania, for instance, we learnt that penetration already stands at 95% in urban areas, while the country as a whole is much more technologically advanced than many would have us believe, ranking fourth in the world in terms of average broadband speeds.
While a handful of countries in CEE have completed the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting and most others are well on the way to doing so – though with widely varying ASO dates, not all of which are fixed – some have fallen seriously behind. In a session on the subject, we were offered contrasting views on the digitisation process from the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Hungary.
Although the latter two have paid elements to their DTT operations, Zsolt Kozma, head of department at Hungary’s National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), stressed the importance of DTT reaching at least 94% of the population and of providing both technical and financial help to the 300,000-350,000 most disadvantaged homes in the country.
Many speakers at the conference expressed the view that digital TV should look upon Over-the-top (OTT) services as an opportunity rather than threat. There was also considerable discussion about the progress some providers are making with on demand services and the rollout of HD channels. Although not as omnipresent yet as in the US and UK, the latter are already available in large numbers in markets such as Poland.
The prospects for DTH in the region were also a topic of debate, with speakers from both Intelsat and Spacecom (Amos) agreeing that the biggest growth is now likely to be seen in Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine, in particular, is currently the focus of many people’s attention, with rumours that the country will shortly see another platform launch refusing to go away.
