Slovak operator Antik Telekom has partnered with Telekom Austria to launch its satellite TV service for the Slovak and Czech market. The direct-to-home service will use the Eutelsat 16A satellite to launch early in October with over 90 channels, of which a third in HD. Telekom Austria Group is doubling its capacity leased on the Eutelsat 16A satellite from four to eight transponders to support the launch, the companies announced at IBC.
ntik already offers broadband, IPTV and VoIP over fibre and wireless infrastructure. Its new pay-TV offer will include local channels for the Slovak and Czech markets and a wide range of international channels. It will also feature an online archive for and second-screen services on-demand programming. Telekom Austria Group will provide a broad portfolio of platform services to Antik Telekom, ranging from licensing, encoding with MPEG-4 compression, Conax encryption and uplinking to Eutelsat 16A from its teleport in Aflenz.
The new service will be marketed online and through more than 150 independent distributors across both countries. Antik plans in a second stage to offer hybrid boxes combining satellite reception and IP services. It will also seek to forge partnerships with other service providers in the Slovak and Czech markets. Antik will provide the new TV service at no additional cost to existing customers of its internet packages and has developed special offers for new customers, such as a starter package at less than EUR 1 and rich HD content packages with mobile TV services included. Vouchers and set-top boxes can be ordered online and bought at well-known electronics outlets and retail chains.
Telekom Austria already offers similar DTH services in Bulgaria and Croatia, as part of a partnership agreed with Eutelsat two years ago. The company expects to announce another launch similar to the one with Antik Telekom by the end of the year, according to Broadband TV News. The group is looking to expand to new countries both in and out of its DTH footprint and with synergies it is to be expected that countries in what was the former Yugoslavia will be possible locations.
Stanislav Georgiev, Group Wholesale, Head of Media Broadcasting, was cited saying that the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which the service operated with Antik Telekom will cover, have different drivers for Telekom Austria Group. The Czech Republic still has low pay-TV penetration and Telekom Austria Group is 100-percent certain that this will grow. Meanwhile the latter has high pay-TV penetration but there are over 500,000 pre-paid subscribers.
Stefan Amon, Director Wholesale, Telekom Austria Group, told Broadband TV News that there is a high overlap of content in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As a result, the group is gaining scale. Amon also said that in the markets in the CEE where Telekom Austria Group operates, convergence has taken place in all but Serbia. Telekom Austria Group has closed 13 satellite distribution and contribution channel deals in the last nine months for 29 channels and six more, from SPI International, will be added to the list very shortly.
