The Slovak company Antik plans to launch a satellite platform in the fourth quarter of this year.
Quoted by Zive, Vlastimil Lakatos, the company’s TV services product manager, said that satellite TV is the next logical step to achieve coverage of the majority of the population.
Antik launched its own IPTV service, known as SmarTVbox and initially offering viewers 20 channels free of charge, in June 2012.
Lakatos ruled out cooperation with established DTH operators such as Skylink, Slovak Telekom (Magio Sat and Digi Slovakia) and freeSAT. He also said the planned platform would not use Astra, which is employed by Skylink, to distribute its service.
Lakatos added that the service would be available via the new Antik TV Home Gateway set-top box and offer viewers live TV channels, video rentals, YouTube, an archive and other internet applications.
Significantly, the new box will support 4K and the new H.265 codec and Antik itself has plans to launch broadcasts in 4K.
Antik will reveal further details about the new platform, including the pricing and programme offer, just prior to its launch later this year.
