Latin America's DTH Market to Surpass US$ 4.6 Billion by 2013; Telefonica and Telmex to Represent 27% of Revenues

The bundling strategies put in place by telecommunications operators will increase DTH’s share of the Latin American Pay TV market from 22% in 2007 to 33% by 2013. 46.54% of subscribers will be part of some type of multi-service package.

BUENOS AIRES — Signals Telecom Consulting, the leading Latin American & Caribbean Telecommunications market consulting firm is proud to present the second edition of its “The DTH Market as a Packages Strategy in Latin America” report. This market analysis study is part of a series on Pay TV services with future reports focused on CATV and IPTV. The report analyzes the positioning strategies, threats and opportunities faced by DTH providers in Latin America.

Latin America’s DTH Market Share as of 2013, by Operator:

DirecTV/Sky  69,0%
Telefónica   16,5%
Telmex       10,5%
Others        4,0%

Source: Signals Telecom Consulting

The report highlights the fact there is no single model for marketing DTH services. For example the largest Pay TV operator in Latin America, DirecTV, has achieved a solid market by positioning itself as a technology innovator and by offering exclusive content. As of the 1Q08, Telefonica is the only telecommunications operator having its own DTH platform offering services on multiple markets. “It’s just a matter of time before Telmex implements a similar strategy in countries like Mexico and Brazil where it controls the incumbent operator. Whereas in markets such as Colombia, Chile and Peru where Telmex is a small market player the possibilities for bundling DTH are mostly reduced to certain market niches. Thus Telmex has to focus on the market of DTH as a means of complementing its CATV coverage,” says Carlos Blanco, author of the report and Markets Research Director for Signals Telecom Consulting.

“The launch of DTH by telecommunications operators like Telefonica, Telmex and Oi (Brazil) is a response to the need of having a massive Pay TV strategy that allows them to rapidly increase their subscriber base. Afterwards, these operators will start migrating their high income clients towards IPTV and/or HFC networks in order to potentially increase the number of services hired by them,” Blanco concluded.