Telekom Austria Group (TAG) expects to announce another launch similar to the one with Slovakia’s Antik Telekom by the end of the year.
Speaking to Broadband TV News, Stanislav Georgiev, Group Wholesale, Head of Media Broadcasting, said that it is looking to expand to new countries both in and out of its DTH footprint and with synergies it is to be expected that countries in what was the former Yugoslavia will be possible locations.
Georgiev pointed out the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which the service operated with Antik Telekom will cover, have different drivers for Telekom Austria Group. The former, for instance, still has low pay-TV penetration and Telekom Austria Group is 100% certain that this will grow. Meanwhile the latter has high pay-TV penetration but there are over 500,000 pre-paid subscribers.
Stefan Amon, Director Wholesale, Telekom Austria Group, said that there is a high overlap of content in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As a result, the group is getting scale.
With this in mind, it is focusing on other markets where there are growing synergies on the content side.
Amon also said that in the markets in CEE where Telekom Austria Group operates, convergence has taken place in all but Serbia.
Significantly, Telekom Austria Group has closed 13 satellite distribution and contribution channel deals in the last nine months for 29 channels and six more, from SPI International, will be added to the list very shortly.
Broadband TV News notes Telekom Austria Group has significantly increased its pay-TV subscriber total this year through organic growth and acquisitions, the most high profile of which was Bulgaria’s leading cable operator blizoo.
Industry sources estimate it now numbers close to one million.
