Satellite operator EchoStar has announced it is in talks with Brazilian telco GVT to forge a pay-TV joint venture for Brazil’s fast-growing market.
The JV would likely use Echostar’s 45W orbital slot and combine its satellite and video technology…
Satellite operator EchoStar has announced it is in talks with Brazilian telco GVT to forge a pay-TV joint venture for Brazil’s fast-growing market.
The JV would likely use Echostar’s 45W orbital slot and combine its satellite and video technology with GVT’s existing market position and IP network
“The objective is to offer a national service based on IPTV and a unique high power satellite to provide leading edge features, quality and reliability to consumers,” stated Echostar.
“The deal is subject to execution of definitive agreements and all corporate and governmental approvals.”
The satellite operator, the sister company of US DTH firm Dish Network, has been searching for a JV partner for more than a year. It had also been linked with Brazilian telcos Telefonica Brasil and Oi.
However, the possibility of a partnership with GVT opened up earlier this year when the telco’s owner, French media giant Vivendi, shelved plans to sell it.
Vivendi was reported to have tried to sell GVT for €8bn, but that was ultimately too high for bidding frontrunner DirecTV, which is Dish’s main DTH rival.
As Brazil counts down to hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and Olympic Games in 2016, satellite companies have been expanding their operations in Latin America to tap the expected surge in capacity demand.
DirecTV is one of these companies, and in September French launch provider Arianespace said it had been picked to place a new and as yet unnamed satellite for the group in the second half of 2015. The bird is likely to be used to provide additional Ku-band broadcast capacity for its Mexican DTH joint venture with Grupo Televisa, Sky Mexico.
Arianespace is also set to launch DirecTV’s Sky Brasil-1 payload on a Brazil-focussed satellite called Intelsat-32 in Q3 2016.
Echostar declined to comment on the JV because of the “ongoing nature of the transaction”. GVT was unable to comment before the press deadline.