Russia’s General Satellite expands into international pay TV

Russian satellite TV technology group General Satellite has launched the first of a number of planned international pay TV projects.

General Satellite has teamed up with Cambodian investment company Royal Group to launch trial terrestrial broadcasts ahead of a planned full launch in September, with General Satellite taking a 51% stake in the pair’s joint venture, One TV.

The Cambodian venture is to be the first of a number of international projects backed by General Satellite, according to the company.

Sergey Dolgopolskiy, foreign projects director, General Satellite said: “This Cambodian project is a part of the company’s next five-year technological and investment strategy. General Satellite is planning to launch different broadcasting projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh, other Asian counties, as well as in CIS and the English-speaking Africa, on the basis of our own unique TV-related technologies. The investment programme is to result in General Satellite’s launch of broadcasting projects all over the world.”

General Satellite provides technology to leading Russian pay TV platform Tricolor, owned by National Satellite Company. General Satellite has been rumoured to have an ownership involvement in the operator, though this has been denied by its president, Andrey Tkachenko. The Russian competition regulator recently approved the sale of a 50% stake in Tricolor to an existing un-named shareholder.