Countries in Central and Eastern Europe are making great strides in the upgrade to digital TV, according to a new research report from Informa Telecoms & Media. The report says that the 8 million digital homes at present will grow to 34.8 million by 2012.
"Several countries are becoming increasingly visible on the radar of international TV investors and I expect to see several major acquisitions and consolidations over the next few years," stated Adam Thomas, Informa's media research manager and author of the report, called "Eastern European TV."
The report states that while high-profile markets such as Poland and the Czech Republic continue to exhibit impressive progress, other countries such as Latvia and Slovakia are also now heating up.
Digital satellite leads delivery vehicles, with cable making slower progress towards digital conversion. The need to compete with IPTV and cable consolidation in territories such as the Czech Republic and Bulgaria will help drive cable conversion levels, according to Thomas.
"With several recent launches and others in the pipeline, IPTV is starting to emerge as a credible alternative platform in some countries," he said.
Russia leads in terms of IPTV subscribers, with Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia also making IPTV progress. Russia will become the region's digital leader over the next five years, according to the report. At present it lags behind Poland in terms of digital TV subscriber numbers, but it is expected to claim first place in 2010 .
Countries in Central and Eastern Europe are making great strides in the upgrade to digital TV, according to a new research report from Informa Telecoms & Media. The report says that the 8 million digital homes at present will grow to 34.8 million by 2012.
"Several countries are becoming increasingly visible on the radar of international TV investors and I expect to see several major acquisitions and consolidations over the next few years," stated Adam Thomas, Informa's media research manager and author of the report, called "Eastern European TV."
The report states that while high-profile markets such as Poland and the Czech Republic continue to exhibit impressive progress, other countries such as Latvia and Slovakia are also now heating up.
Digital satellite leads delivery vehicles, with cable making slower progress towards digital conversion. The need to compete with IPTV and cable consolidation in territories such as the Czech Republic and Bulgaria will help drive cable conversion levels, according to Thomas.
"With several recent launches and others in the pipeline, IPTV is starting to emerge as a credible alternative platform in some countries," he said.
Russia leads in terms of IPTV subscribers, with Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia also making IPTV progress. Russia will become the region's digital leader over the next five years, according to the report. At present it lags behind Poland in terms of digital TV subscriber numbers, but it is expected to claim first place in 2010.
