Controversial new Paraguay DTH service licensed
November 30, 2016
By Chris Forrester
Paraguay’s National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) has licensed Millicom-backed Tigo’s to provide a DTH service over the country.
The issue of the licence is controversial. Local press reports say the license covers “[provision of] the Service of Distribution of Audio Signals and Direct Television to the Home (DATDH) –better known as DTH –to Servicios y Productos Multimedios SA (Tigo).”
The controversy is led by Paraguay’s Association of Cable Operators of the Interior of Paraguay (ACIP), which argues that the DTH service “puts at risk of extinction at least 85 companies of Cable TV in the interior.”
In Paraguay, Tigo is already offering Cable TV services and is considered the dominant player in the market, with a 55 per cent market share having bought cable operations in the cities of Ciudad del Este and Encarnación.