United Group has begun to take steps to consolidate its DTH services across Southeast Europe into a single platform by sending an RFI to a select group of satellite operators for satellite capacity to support its plans.
United Group currently operates three DTH services through Nova, Total TV and Vivacom brand names in eight countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia), reaching an audience of 40 million people.
According to United Group, the move will allow it to take advantage of new transmission standards and compression technologies to maximise the efficiency of its operation. At the same time, it will enable the introduction of new, increased quality and innovative services for TV subscribers well into the future.
It adds that the current configuration of its DTH operations includes multiple satellite operators, multi-orbital positions, older compression technology, and an amalgam of receiving antennas of varying sizes. The consolidation and reorganisation of its DTH services will involve the selection of a single satellite orbital position, a unified STB and CAS, a one-size TVRO and a unique Teleport to uplink the content.
Commenting on the development, Srdjan Djurdjevic CEO of United Cloud, the innovation centre of United Group, said: “consolidating all TV services in a single platform, is much more than a business decision. It is further proof of our commitment to continue evolving next generation services, through next generation satellite possibilities”.
