When it comes DTH, there is no doubt that Europe is now being eclipsed by other parts of the world, and in particular Latin America.
Speaking at this week’s Hispasat Innovation Days conference in London, Mohammed Hamza, senior research analyst, SNL Kagan, provided a global overview of the market and indicated that Latin America was the only region in which STB shipments had increased in 2018. Although they will continue to do so thanks to the launch of new platforms, this will only be marginal.
Hamza also said that the future of TV lies in 4K, which is currently being driven by OTT. Furthermore, growth in the DTH markets in Western Europe and North America will only come by bringing IP into satellite.
A CEE perspective was provided by Roland Schlichting, the CEO of the audiovisual service company Panaccess. Panaccess is behind the B2B DTH platform Pantelio, which made its debut in Slovakia in late 2017, and he revealed that it will finally launch in neighbouring Czech Republic this May. Just as importantly, he discussed its future plans, which include a possible launch in Hungary next year.
Hungary’s DTH market currently finds itself in a state of flux and Panaccess clearly believes opportunities will present themselves for Pantelio.
Interestingly, Schlichting also said that Panaccess plans to replicate its Pantelio business model in Latin America, again working with Hispasat. While he was unable to provide any date, he indicated that the first market it would enter would be Chile, working in partnership with the public broadcaster TVN.
As to Pantelio’s performance to date in Slovakia, which is undoubtedly one of the most competitive markets in CEE, he was able to confirm figures provided by Hispasat that it currently has just over 1,000 subscribers.
This total will undoubtedly increase once it enters the Czech, Hungarian and any other countries in CEE, though Latin America may ultimately prove to be more fruitful for Panaccess.
