Published:
01-Nov-07
Ukrainian state telecom operator Ukrtelecom is to launch an IPTV service in partnership with channel group the Independent Ukrainian TV Corporation (the owner of channel Inter). Service will begin testing from December this year with a full launch expected in March or April 2008. Called U.tv, it will offer about 100 Ukrainian and foreign channels and a VoD service. Set-top boxes--some of which will be PVR enabled--will be provided on a rental basis and the group says it will price packages at a similar level to analogue TV services via cable. Ukrtelecom also plans to launch more new services, including a VoIP service called Ogo! Agent.
There are already five other companies licensed for IPTV in the Ukraine: Comstar Ukraine (Stream TV) and Golden Telecom Ukraine, both daughter companies of Russian operators, as well as Cosmonova, Norma Plus, and No Plus. Comstar and Golden Telecom have both already completed IPTV tests with Comstar planning start the its second stage of testing this month (November 2007). It currently offers 40 channels a month and will increase the package to 60 channels in the future. Golden Telecom says it will finish its field tests by the end of 2007 and launch a service early in 2008.
Operators believe that a number of factors are currently hindering development of the Ukrainian IPTV market. Operators currently require two licences (one from the telecommunication authority and another one from the broadcast regulator). In addition, set-top boxes cost between $250-$450 each, which is hard for operators to re-coup at current monthly subscription rates.
Our take...
Back in 2005, Ukrtelecom was the first Ukrainian company to announce its plans for IPTV but later decided to postpone the date of launch after its DSL customer growth failed to live up to expectations.However, with its network gradually modernised, the largest Ukrainian telco operator now expects a considerable proportion of its existing customers to subscribe to its IPTV service in 2008. Ukrtelecom is currently providing broadband to about 200,000 subscribers.
Ukretelecom is using U.tv primarily to increase average monthly revenue from its telephony and broadband subscribers but the service will for the first time bring the telco into direct competition with the country's cable industry which is only just to beginning to roll out digital TV services.
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