Lattelecom launches digital-terrestrial TV in Latvia

Latvian telco Lattelecom has launched its digital-terrestrial TV platform, Virszemes Televīziju. The telco is currently delivering signals to a 70km radius around the capital, Riga.

The platform was launched in test mode in mid-July, serving about 2,000 customers. The service, which is using MPEG-4 compression, currently delivers Latvia’s five free channels – LTV1, LTV7, LNT, TV5 and TV3. Lattelecom is also offering two pay-TV packages with 11 and 30 channels respectively, for LVL3.50 (€5) and LVL6.90 a month. The platform will be extended to the remainder of Latvia’s territory later this year.

Latvian cable operator Baltkom had earlier tested digital-terrestrial TV, but ceased broadcasting after the government awarded the platform licence to Lattelecom.