Baku, Azerbaijan, June 9
By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:
There is a tendency of transition of satellite TV users to cable TV in Azerbaijan, a source in the telecommunications market of Azerbaijan told Trend.
The subscriber base of cable operators is expanding every day, and it happens mainly in large cities, according to the source. People still prefer satellite TV in rural areas. This is due to the fact that the development of cable infrastructure in remote areas with low population density is not profitable for cable TV operators from an economic point of view.
The development of cable infrastructure in major cities, particularly in the capital, is significantly impacted by the interests of consumers. Many users tend to watch TV channels with rating and prefer quality television content, rather than the number of satellite TV channels.
"A large number of television programs that are available on a satellite antenna, does not much interest the urban population. Many people understand that cable television is much easier and cheaper than satellite; as it is possible to watch rated channels through them, which have agreements with cable operators. Furthermore, the market is changing and the needs of the end user are also changing. Many consumers are no longer interested in just access to television content. Many people are also interested in the Internet services. This practice has been used by many cable operators in Azerbaijan," the source said.
The competition between cable operators and sale points of satellite antenna is getting toughened in the large cities and many sale points, not withstanding the competition are forced to close.
Another important reason is the frequent interruptions in satellite broadcasting.
In particular, last week there was a failure in broadcasting of the "Yamal-201" satellite which is the most popular among many viewers of satellite TV channels. Due to an abnormal situation that occurred at the satellite, the communication networks and broadcasting work of satellite were disrupted. "Yamal-201" satellite belongs to "Gazprom Space Systems".
As noted in the company, despite all the efforts made by the Mission Control Center specialists and RSC "Energia" (manufacturer of the satellite) experts, the normal operation of the spacecraft has still failed to be restored.
The company involved orbit redundancy reservation and promptly transferred up to 50 percent load of "Yamal-201" satellite on the "Yamal-300K" satellite, working in the same orbital position. At present, transfer of other networks on other satellites ("Yamal-202", "Yamal-402") is being continued.
Edited by CN