The Russian DTH platform Orion Express ended the first quarter with 2.839 million subscribers, while its revenues in the period amounted to R798.7 million (€10.3 million).
Quoting analysts, Comnews reports that the figures point to the company’s subscriber base being close to stagnation, with the market being saturated.
Its adds that although Orion Express gained 184,000 customers in the year to March 31, it so virtually no growth in the first quarter. Meanwhile, its income in Q1 was slightly down on the R802 million posted in the same period in 2015.
Orion Express sees the implementation of satellite capacity as one of its key activities. The total amount of satellite capacity as of the end of March stood at 714 MHz, while the volume of sales capacity reached 248.5 MHz. It sold 4.5MHz in just the first three months of this year, or 50% more than in Q1 2015.
Orion Express’ subscriber growth was mainly achieved in Siberia and the Far East, where DTH penetration is, at 55%, still relatively low.
However, it is 70% in Moscow, St Petersburg and certain parts of the Urals, where competition is more intense.
