ACC-BUCHAREST. Something has to give in the price war still raging in Romania’s cable industry, according to Radu Petric, president of the Romanian Cable Communications Association (ACC).
Speaking exclusively to Broadband TV News, he added that as a result of the war the industry has found itself “completely frozen”, with telephony the only area where it was still possible to make some money.
Petric also spoke at some length about the “absolute” digital divide that still exists in Romania between urban and rural parts of the country and the need to educate people in the latter about the internet.
In addition, he was pessimistic about VOD, which has only enjoyed success in some large urban areas, and referred to the failure of one of Digi TV’s two pay-per-view services.
Meanwhile in the DTT sector, trials are still ongoing in Bucharest, while the CME-back broadcaster Pro TV is distributing its digital channels terrestrially in the city.
Pro TV is also offering a full HD version of its flagship channel.
With IPTV, where Romtelecom is the only player of significance (Ines only provides services in Bucharest), there is a need for large investment in infrastructure.
