Representatives of the largest pay-TV operators in Russia and the country’s pay-TV industry in general have called for the creation of an association to protect their interests.
In a report on a roundtable discussion on pay-TV organised by TelecomDaily, the leading DTH platform Tricolor TV says that more than 23 million of Russia’s 55 million households already watch pay-TV services and its penetration is likely to increase by 12-15% in the next three years.
Tricolor TV itself expects its current subscriber total of 9 million to rise to 10 million by Q1 next year.
According to Tricolor TV’s general director Pavel Basov, both national and regional cable operators have to increase their ARPU.
However, they also need a clearly defined way of doing so, with the most important thing being QoS and the services provided.
The transition to digital broadcasting was also discussed at the roundtable, along with the decision by the Moscow government not to switch off analogue transmissions in 2015 since not everyone will be able to afford set-op boxes or advanced TVs.
Vimpelcom also revealed that it had increased its pay-TV ARPU in Moscow by 25% in the past year.
