The number of pay-TV subscribers in Russia now exceeds 40 million.
According to a new report produced by IAA TelecomDaily, the total stood at 40.36 million as of the end of Q2, up from 38.70 million in the same period last year.
Although Tricolor TV was the leading provider with 11,910,000, compared to 11.870,000 three months earlier, second place Rostelecom (9,020,000 v 8,790,000) accounted for over 50% of new connections in Q2.
The three next leading providers were Orion Express (2,877,000 v 2,839,000), MTS (2,765,000 v 2,755,000) and ER-Telecom (2,730,000 v 2,710,000).
Pay-TV penetration stood at 73% and ARPU remained unchanged at R155 (€2.21).
The report notes that the subscriber base of NTV-Plus, the longest-established DTH platform in Russia, remains barely more than 1 million.
At the same time, the recently launched MTS satellite platform has yet to reach 100,000 subscribers.