Telecom Daily analytical company has compared the cost of paid television services in 2017 in 20 largest countries in the world in terms of GDP (purchasing power parity). In Russia, the price of the service was the lowest, experts concluded.

The average monthly payment of the subscriber (ARPU) in Russia is $2.95 (at the rate of the Central Bank on December 31, 2017). Before it – India, where ARPU- $ 3,9, and the first place is occupied by the USA, where subscribers of pay TV spend an average of $112,7 monthly. Second place is shared by Australia and Canada ($67), then – UK ($44). Data on one of the countries – Iran – Telecom Daily could not detect.

Denis Kuskov, General Director of Telecom Daily, connects low cost of services with high competition in the Russian market of paid TV – long price wars between operators. And now, when pay TV penetration reached 75% of households and the market is full, it is no longer possible to raise tariffs – this will lead to the outflow of subscribers to other players, says Kuskov.

By prices for pay-TV Russia is in last place among the major countries, agrees Elena Krylova, analyst of “TMT consulting”. The reason is that Russia has a well-developed terrestrial TV, viewers can watch more than 20 channels on it for free, she said. In addition, in Russian apartment buildings there are collective antennas, using fee of which is about 100 rubles per month, she said.

Kuskov and Krylova agree that it will not be possible to increase ARPU due to the increase of tariffs of the Russian operators of pay TV. Income growth is possible due to additional services, such as video-on-demand, and paid additional content, they say.

The cost of pay-TV in Russia is really small due to competition between operators, said Alkhas Mirzabekov, CEO of “Iskratelekom”. The market does have a pressure from free broadcast TV with many channels, he agrees. Additional services may only slightly affect the income of providers of pay TV, said Mirzabekov. TV viewing is now going to online and widgets (special applications for smart TVs, also connected to the Internet), he says.

SOURCE: VEDOMOSTI