Those who follow the industry in Central and Eastern Europe know only too well that Romania is a unique and indeed special market.
Underpinned by cutthroat competition between what are effectively its three main protagonists – RCS&RDS, Romtelecom and UPC Romania – it is characterised by low subscription fees, even by regional standards, as providers fight ever more harder to retain their customers.
At the same time, questions as to the future direction of the market are arguably much harder to answer than in most other countries.
Take UPC Romania, for instance. Speculation that Liberty Global will sell the company was rife for many months but appears to have finally subsided, thanks in no small part to denials from senior executives. But it is certainly not a market leader, as are its sister operations in other CEE countries, and will remain in number two spot in the cable sector for the foreseeable unless there is a fundamental shift involving RCS&RDS.
The latter remains in top spot in both the cable and DTH sectors and, like UPC, also has a presence in other CEE countries. Perhaps the most interesting developments involving the company in recent months – aside from raising more capital – have been its move into content and creation of a portfolio of proprietary channels.
For the incumbent telco Romtelecom, on the other hand, the direction of travel has been one of acquisitions, buying up two DTH platforms and merging them into its existing operation Dolce, and small networks to build up its fledgling cable business. At the same time, it has also been growing its still relatively new IPTV platform.
However, there are question marks as to the future ownership of Romtelecom, with its backer OTE gradually selling off its assets due to the severe economic crisis in neighbouring Greece.
Specifically in the DTH sector, we have also seen Focus Sat, which is operated by UPC DTH, more than hold its own in a market in which RCS&RDS and Romtelecom are the leading players.
All these issues and much, much more will be discussed at the next Broadband TV News business breakfast, organised jointly with Telenor Satellite Broadcasting. Taking The Future of Digital TV in Romania as its theme, it will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Bucharest on Tuesday, May 22 and all our readers are invited to attend. To register for free, please go to:
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