DTH leads Romanian pay TV rebound as cable declines

Romanian telecoms regulator ANCOM’s latest Electronic Communications report shows an overall growth in pay TV subscriber numbers, led by DTH operators.

Following a decline in sub numbers during the first half of 2010, Romania’s pay TV market rebounded in the second half of the year. By the end of 2010 there were 5.74 million pay TV subs, an increase of 2% year-on-year. While the number of cable subscribers fell by 1% to 3.32 million, DTH operators increased total customer numbers by 5% to 2.38 million.

The number of IPTV subscribers is on the rise, increasing by 135% in six months. However, with a total of 30,000, the numbers are still low and represent just 0.5% of pay TV subs.

The number of digital TV subscribers increased 7% to 2.8 million in the six months to the end of December.