Russia’s pay-TV market gained only 350,000 new subscribers in the first quarter.
This, according to TelecomDaily, was the lowest figure recorded for some years, adding that the total number of pay-TV subscribers as of the end of March stood at 39.97 million, representing a penetration figure of 72%.
Meanwhile, average bills per subscriber amounted to R155 (€2) a month.
Significantly, around 90% of new connections in Q1 were secured by the five leading providers of pay-TV services.
Rostelecom accounted for 50% of new connections, or more than all DTH platforms combined, thanks to its IPTV deployment.
The telco saw its subscriber base grew from 8.60 million to 8.77 million in the first three months of this year.
