| company's long history means it already has the widest range of packages of the pay-TV companies; in regards to the threat posed by the newcomers on the pay-TV scene, the company is in a good position to gain from the efforts of others in popularizing the idea of pay television.
NTV Plus has been in operation since 1996, and broadcasts throughout European Russia, although most of its subscribers are in Moscow.
It claims to have passed the 300,000-subscriber mark last year, meaning it would be considered the largest provider of paid-for television in Russia. More than half of its subscribers are in Moscow.
One of the channel's biggest problems, and one which it has been very public about, is the battle against pirate access.
Airwave pirates
The problem of illegal access to paid-for telecommunications services is certainly not specific to Russia, but experts say the real size of the pay-TV market could be several times bigger than the official market, thanks to pirates who supply customers with counterfeit access cards.
However, the CTAR's Makoveev said that while piracy was a problem for pay-TV providers, it certainly wasn't the biggest dilemma facing the cable-TV industry. "It's much more of a problem for the satellite operator NTV Plus, which has been conducting an active and reasonably successful campaign against pirates."
NTV Plus was not immediately available for comment, but the fact that its Web site has a section devoted to the war on piracy is itself a demonstration of just how serious the company takes the issue of illegal access.
The company has offered $1,000 to anyone who could provide information on pirates dealing in the fake cards that give access to NTV Plus. They also claim to be constantly updating the technology used to frustrate the efforts of pirates.
As for the cable operators, they are on the whole more confident about this particular issue.
Comcor TV's Baker dismissed the significance of the piracy problem. "It's not an issue for us because the access systems on our controllers is way too complicated," he said.
But others are slightly less assured, or perhaps more realistic. Versatel's Afsar worked previously as marketing manager for AT&T Broadband, and said that piracy was one of the major concerns of new generation broadcast operators, not only in Russia but anywhere in the world.
"Theoretically any system can be broken," he said. "But we're using some |
