DTV households in South America to treble by 2014
June 1, 2009
Research from Informa says that digital TV will make significant progress in Latin America over the next five years. Digital TV households will more than treble in that time – from 12.2 million at present to 37.1 million by 2014. Brazil and Mexico now combine to account for half of the region's digital subscribers, but this will drop to 45 per cent in 2014 – as other countries see their services start to take off.
Adam Thomas, author of the report, said: "While the global economic situation is bound to have some impact, Latin America's economies now appear more robust than they were in the 1990s. We therefore see a positive outlook for the region's TV sector. Major players such as Telmex and Telefonica continue to invest, which contributes to the upbeat sentiment."
The research found that deregulation in the telecoms sector has encouraged cable TV operators to invest in network improvements, or face the risk of getting left behind. This has created a meaner leaner cable sector that is much better positioned to compete in terms of content and functionality.
Consolidation in the satellite sector has also started to pay off for DirecTV and the renewed confidence in DTH is illustrated by new entrants looking for a piece of the market.