Spanish telco Telefonica is once again looking to launch a Uruguayan DTH platform after a rival operator successfully overturned its ban on providing the services.
Uruguay’s administrative court recently revoked a 2009 presidential decree that had…
Spanish telco Telefonica is once again looking to launch a Uruguayan DTH platform after a rival operator successfully overturned its ban on providing the services.
Uruguay’s administrative court recently revoked a 2009 presidential decree that had banned Mexico’s America Movil from utilising its DTH licence, which it had secured just a few months before.
Like America Movil, Telefonica had also applied for a licence to provide satellite TV services, although these plans were dropped after America Movil’s efforts were shot down.
The ban on DTH services had been put in place to ensure a new government initiative, which aimed to provide convergent triple play services to all Uruguayan households, had a more hospitable environment for the incumbent to roll out its services.
Encouraged by the lifting of this ban, Telefonica revealed it is now once again after its own DTH licence through local telecoms subsidiary Movistar Uruguay.
Fernando Leis, Telefonica’s marketing director in Uruguay, confirmed the plans in an interview with SatelliteFinance.
“We expect a favourable response shortly,” he said.
“We are already working on the development of the commercial operations and we hope to have official authorisation to operate this service and be able to launch it in Uruguay in the near future.”
Leis said the company hoped to contribute to a broader television offering for subscribers in the country, with more competitive and flexible plans.
“In the medium term, competition offers greater product quality and reduces prices with more competitive offers, increases penetration and use, generating more jobs,” he added.
According to Jose Otero, president of Signals Telecom Consulting, if Telefonica did obtain a DTH licence it would likely follow a strategy similar to the route he expects America Movil to go down: bundling satellite TV with mobile services.
However, much like the issues Telefonica faces in Venezuela, the company will be unable to create a bundle offering that includes fixed broadband, because Uruguayan state-owned telecoms incumbent Antel holds a monopoly on these services.
Argentina’s Cablevision currently has the largest share of the pay-TV market, according to Signals Telecom Consulting data, with 16%, followed by US-based DTH giant DirecTV with 11.2%. Other players include Montecable, Nuevo Siglo, TCC and Multiseñal.
The country has roughly 540,000 pay-TV subscribers, representing around 50% household penetration.
