2011 was a landmark year for the cable market in Romania, with the number of digital TV subscribers more than doubling, according to data published by ANCOM.
In a statement, the regulator says that the total number of cable subscribers grew by 7% in the year, while the number receiving digital services rose by 129% compared to 2010 and 24% compared to mid-2011.
In total, one in four (25%) cable subscribers opted for digital TV services at the end of 2011.
The total number of pay-TV subscribers irrespective of technology at the end of 2011 stood at 5.85 million, or 2% more than a year earlier.
Significantly, the number of DTH subscribers fell by 5% over the year but grew by 2% in the second half.
Cable accounted for 61% of all subscribers (up by three percentage points), DTH 38.5% and IPTV 0.5%.
In the latter case, there were a total of 30,000 subscribers at year’s end.
Cable is still very much an urban phenomenon in Romania, with 2.79 million subscribers living in towns and cities and only 780,000 in smaller locations at the end of 2011.
