Summary
Convergence offers promising prospects in Latin America and the Caribbean, a continent with about 577 million people, a soaring broadband sector, low teledensity, relatively high TV penetration, and a growing VoIP market.
Convergence, however, has created a number of challenges for regulators, forcing them to revisit outdated laws in view of technological advances. In some countries, the broadcast and telecom industries are regulated by entirely separate authorities that do not always see eye to eye when it comes to convergence. As pay TV operators seek to branch into high-speed Internet and cable telephony, and telecom operators seek to add pay TV to their broadband and telephony services, these previously separate regulatory authorities must cooperate or merge to create a transparent and logical regulatory framework.
One of the consequences of triple play is the start of competition between cable TV and telecom operators. This is, of course, beneficial for customers, who have a greater choice between service providers. But in many countries, issues of market balance and fear of losing market share to competition have led to lengthy regulatory battles, involving cable TV companies, telecom operators, and regulatory authorities.
Although the region's pay TV market is still small, the long-term outlook is positive, particularly in view of convergence opportunities, the gradual upgrading of cable networks from analogue to digital, and the efforts to reduce signal piracy.
Nevertheless, pay TV in Latin America is beginning to suffer from the global economic downturn; the setback, however, is expected to be temporary. A more serious threat for cable and satellite TV operators will come eventually from IPTV, although bandwidth shortage and the lack of FTTx infrastructure are likely to delay widespread IPTV take-up.
Cable TV subscribers and penetration in major Latin American countries-2007-2008
Country | 2007 | 2008 | Annual change | Penetration per capita | Household penetration |
(million) |
Argentina | 5.85 | 6.00 | +3% | 15.1% | 54.7% |
Brazil | 3.23 | 3.80 | +18% | 2.0% | 6.7% |
Chile | 0.87 | 0.90 | +3% | 5.3% | 18.3% |
Colombia | 1.97 | 3.00 | +52% | 6.2% | 28.4% |
Mexico | 4.36 | 4.82 | +11% | 4.5% | 15.3% |
Peru | 0.71 | 0.96 | +36% | 3.3% | 13.5% |
Venezuela | 1.55 | 1.79 | +15% | 6.4% | 26.1% |
Key highlights:Argentina
In terms of pay TV penetration, Argentina is a world leader, with more than one home out of two being subscribed to pay TV services, but media convergence suffers from regulatory battles involving the government, pay TV companies, and telecom operators. According to Argentinean law, a telecom company is not allowed to offer pay TV, and must ally with a CATV operator if it wants to offer converged services. Telcos have been urging the government to reform the Argentine telecoms law to facilitate media convergence. The Cable TV Operators' Association, on the other hand, has urged the government not to allow telcos into the pay TV sector-at least not until CATV companies have completed the digitisation of their networks. It claims that the telecom incumbents would take over the pay TV market and push CATV companies out of business.
Brazil
In Brazil, delay in legislating on the matter of convergence has led to much confusion and conflict, involving pay TV companies, telecom operators, and regulatory authorities. Incumbent telcos have been forcing the issue by entering the pay TV market before receiving authorisation to do so. Although regulatory questions still await resolution, both pay TV and telephone companies have been active in developing convergence strategies, and several operators offer triple or quadruple play packages. The market leader is Net Servi?os de Comunica??o, controlled by Mexico's Telmex; in fact, Net is the largest multi-service cable TV provider in Latin America, with a bundled video, broadband, and voice service in 79 Brazilian cities. Brazil was the second country in Latin America to adopt a digital TV standard; digital terrestrial TV was launched in December 2007, but is experiencing slow uptake.
Mexico
Mexico's main cable TV providers, Megacable, Cablemás, and Cablevisión, are active in the triple play market, with offerings of bundled cable TV, broadband, and telephony; as a result, their broadband subscriber base and in particular their VoIP subscriber numbers witnessed healthy growth during 2007 and 2008. Telmex has claimed to have lost over 50% of the voice market in areas where cable companies offer triple play services. In 2007, it requested to have its own licence modified to include pay TV services, but in late 2008, it entered into an agreement with the newly constituted Dish Mexico to distribute DTH satellite TV services. Mexico was the first country in Latin America to launch digital terrestrial TV; by early 2009 there were an estimated 38 digital channels.
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.
Table of Contents
1. Latin American Convergence and Digital Media Market Overview
1.1 Overview of media convergence
1.2 Triple play models
1.2.1 Regulatory issues
1.3 Pay TV
1.3.1 Cable TV
1.3.2 Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Systems (MMDS)
1.3.3 Satellite TV
1.4 Broadband TV (IPTV)
1.5 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
2. Argentina
2.1 Overview of media convergence
2.2 Triple play models
2.3 Regulatory issues
2.4 Pay TV market
2.4.1 Overview
2.4.2 Cable TV
2.4.3 Satellite TV
2.4.4 Broadband TV (IPTV)
2.5 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
3. Belize
3.1 Overview of media convergence
3.2 Overview of the pay TV market
4. Bolivia
4.1 Overview of media convergence
4.2 Pay TV
5. Brazil
5.1 Overview of media convergence
5.2 Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC)
5.3 Triple play models
5.4 Quadruple play
5.5 Regulatory issues
5.6 Pay TV
5.6.1 Pay TV statistics
5.6.2 Foreign ownership regulations
5.6.3 Cable TV
5.6.4 Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Systems (MMDS)
5.6.5 Satellite TV
5.6.6 Major pay TV players
5.6.7 Broadband TV (IPTV)
5.7 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
6. Caribbean Countries
6.1 Market overview
6.1.1 Bahamas
6.1.2 Dominica
7. Chile
7.1 Overview of media convergence
7.2 Triple play models
7.3 Pay TV
7.3.1 Cable TV
7.3.2 Satellite TV
7.3.3 Broadband TV (IPTV and TVoIP)
7.4 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
8. Colombia
8.1 Overview of media convergence
8.2 Triple play models
8.2.1 Regulatory issues
8.3 Pay TV
8.3.1 Cable TV
8.3.2 Satellite TV
8.4 Broadband TV (IPTV)
8.5 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
9. Costa Rica
9.1 Overview of media convergence
9.2 Cable TV
9.3 Satellite TV
10. Dominican Republic
10.1 Overview
10.2 Pay TV
11. Ecuador
11.1 Overview of media convergence
11.1.1 TVCable
11.1.2 Telmex (previously Ecutel)
11.2 Pay TV
12. El Salvador
12.1 Overview of media convergence
12.2 Cable TV
12.2.1 Amnet
12.3 Satellite TV
13. Guatemala
13.1 Overview of media convergence
13.2 Cable TV
13.3 Satellite TV
14. Haiti
14.1 Overview of media convergence
14.2 Cable TV
14.3 Satellite TV
15. Honduras
15.1 Overview of media convergence
15.2 Pay TV market
15.2.1 Cable TV
15.2.2 Satellite TV
15.3 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
16. Jamaica
16.1 Overview of media convergence
16.2 Cable TV
16.2.1 Flow (Columbus Communications Network)
17. Mexico
17.1 Overview of media convergence
17.2 Triple play regulation issues
17.3 Triple play and VoIP developments
17.4 Digital TV
17.4.1 Cable TV
17.4.2 Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Systems (MMDS)
17.4.3 DTH satellite TV
17.4.4 Interactive TV
17.4.5 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
18. Nicaragua
18.1 Overview of media convergence
18.2 Cable TV
18.3 Satellite TV
19. Panama
19.1 Overview of media convergence
19.2 Triple play models
19.2.1 Cable Onda
19.3 Cable TV
19.4 Satellite TV
19.5 IPTV (Broadband TV)
20. Paraguay
20.1 Overview of media convergence
20.2 Pay TV
21. Peru
21.1 Overview of media convergence
21.2 Pay TV
21.2.1 Cable TV
21.2.2 Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Systems (MMDS)
21.2.3 Satellite TV
21.3 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
22. Puerto Rico
22.1 Digital media overview
22.2 Digital TV
22.2.1 Cable TV
22.2.2 Satellite TV
22.2.3 Free-to-Air (FTA) TV
23. Uruguay
23.1 Overview of media convergence
23.2 Triple play
23.3 Pay TV
23.4 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
24. Venezuela
24.1 Overview of media convergence
24.2 Triple play models
24.3 Pay TV market
24.3.1 Overview
24.3.2 Cable TV
24.3.3 Satellite TV
24.3.4 Broadband TV (IPTV)
24.4 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
25. Glossary of Abbreviations
Table 1-Latin America cable TV subscribers and penetration-2000-2008
Table 2-Cable TV subscribers and penetration in major LA countries-2007-2008
Table 3-Cable TV subscribers and penetration rates in Argentina-1998-2008
Table 4-Grupo Clarín cable TV subscribers-2006-2008
Table 5-CableVisión & Multicanal cable TV subscribers (historical)-2000-2006
Table 6-Pay TV concessions by technology in Brazil-2007
Table 7-Pay TV subscribers, annual change and penetration in Brazil-1999-2008
Table 8-Pay TV market share by technology in Brazil-2000-2008
Table 9-Cable TV subscribers, annual change and penetration in Brazil-2000-2008
Table 10-MMDS subscribers, annual change and penetration in Brazil-2000-2008
Table 11-DTH subscribers, annual change and penetration in Brazil-2000-2008
Table 12-Major pay TV companies' market share in Brazil-1998; 2003-2007
Table 13-Net Serviços pay TV subscribers and annual change-2000-2008
Table 14-Pay TV subscribers by operator and market share in Chile-2006-2008
Table 15-Cable TV subscribers and penetration rates in Chile-1995-2008
Table 16-VTR cable TV subscribers by technology-2000-2008
Table 17-Telefónica Chile satellite TV subscribers-2000-2008
Table 18-Cable TV subscribers and penetration rates in Colombia-2000-2008
Table 19-Major cable TV operators' market share in Colombia-2004-2008
Table 20-Satellite TV subscribers and penetration rates in Colombia-2000-2008
Table 21-Satellite TV operators' market share in Colombia-2004-2008
Table 22-Pay TV subscribers and penetration in Ecuador-2004-2008
Table 23-Pay TV technology market share in Ecuador-2004-2008
Table 24-Pay TV subscribers and penetration rates in Honduras-2003-2007
Table 25-Cable VoIP subscribers of major providers in Mexico-2006-2008
Table 26-Pay TV subscribers by technology and penetration in Mexico-1998-2008
Table 27-Megacable pay TV subscribers and annual change-2001-2008
Table 28-Megacable ARPU-2007-2008
Table 29-Cablemás CATV subscribers and annual change-2002-2008
Table 30-Cablemás CATV, broadband and VoIP ARPUs and churn-2006-2008
Table 31-Cablevisión pay TV subscribers and annual change-2000-2008
Table 32-Sky DTH subscribers and annual change-1999-2008
Table 33-Pay TV market share by operator in Peru-September 2008
Table 34-Cable TV subscribers and penetration rates in Peru-1998-2008
Table 35-Cable Mágico subscribers-2002-2008
Table 36-Cable TV subscribers in Puerto Rico-2001-2008
Table 37-Pay TV subscribers and penetration rates in Uruguay-2001-2008
Table 38-Pay TV market share in Uruguay-2008
Table 39-Pay TV subscribers and penetration rates in Venezuela-1997-2008
Exhibit 1-CableVisión-historical overview
Exhibit 2-Multicanal-historical overview
Exhibit 3-Net Serviços de Comunicação at a glance
Exhibit 4-Net Serviços de Comunicação (formerly Globo Cabo)-company history
Exhibit 5-Vivax-company history
Exhibit 6-Metrópolis (historical)
Exhibit 7-Triple play case study-Megacable
