Mexican telecoms giant América Móvil is set to launch DTH services in Uruguay after the country’s administrative court revoked a 2009 government decree.
Uruguayan regulator URSEC had originally awarded Telmex, the telco’s local unit that is now…
Mexican telecoms giant América Móvil is set to launch DTH services in Uruguay after the country’s administrative court revoked a 2009 government decree.
Uruguayan regulator URSEC had originally awarded Telmex, the telco’s local unit that is now called Claro, a DTH licence back in October 2008. But this was annulled just a few months later when a presidential decree banned it from providing the services to ensure a new government initiative, called the Cardales Plan, had a viable competitive environment.
The Cardales Plan aims to provide convergent triple play services to all Uruguayan households. However, Claro’s DTH ban was perceived by many industry players as a move to protect state-owned telecoms incumbent Antel, which still a monopoly on fixed telephony and broadband services.
According to Jose Otero, president of Signals Telecom Consulting, lifting Claro’s DTH ban will likely prompt a wave of protest from existing pay-tv players, particularly those using a cable platform.
Otero pointed to how the decision arrives in a market where at the end of last year another presidential decree imposed a 25% market cap on nationwide pay-TV services, with a 35% limit on specific localities. The decree from the Uruguayan Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining went against many Uruguayan cable TV operators that pleaded for a tougher 15% market cap.
“Once again, critics consider this measure to be preparing the road for Antel’s upcoming IPTV launch, putting a brake on the amount of money that foreign-owned companies invested in the country to modernise their networks,” he said.
“Furthermore, by placing a market cap, Uruguay is preventing consolidation to take place in the cable TV segment – a phenomenon that is currently ongoing in most Latin American markets.”
Uruguay has roughly 540,000 pay-TV subscribers, representing around 50% household penetration, according to data from Signals Telecom Consulting.
Argentina’s Cablevisión has the largest share of the market with 16%, followed by US-based DTH giant DirecTV with 11.2%. Other players include Montecable, Nuevo Siglo, TCC and Multiseñal.
Otero said Claro’s DTH services will likely target medium to low households with a service portfolio emphasising price segmentation by number of channels. However, unlike the group’s activities in other markets, the only bundle it will be able to offer in Uruguay is with mobile services because of Antel’s fixed line monopoly.
América Móvil was unable to comment before the press deadline.
