The danger for cable operators, however, is that the piracy problem at NTV Plus affected them as well: If you can get illegal access to the NTV Plus channels, then why should you pay for other services that aren't much different? The only solution is to focus on differentiating content as much as possible.

Legal deficit

For the cable TV industry, the issue of piracy is less pressing than the need for a better regulatory framework for the industry, said the CTAR's Makoveev.

"The main problem is that the sector is developing far quicker than the framework for its regulation, and operators complain of a legal vacuum," he said. "The state is not willing to take on the kind of regulatory measures of cable television that exist in countries with developed market economies."

After the Ostankino fire in 2000 threw Moscow's broadcasting services into chaos, the government briefly paid lip service to the need for a greater focus on cultivating alternative forms of broadcasting, such as cable television.

But that has not happened, and the lack of regulation has scared away potential investment and stunted the sector's growth.

The Cable TV Association, Makoveev said, is lobbying hard for this to happen.

An international conference on the broadcasting industry - "Cable and Satellite, Teleradio and Film Technology and Broadband" - will take place at the Sokolniki exhibition center in Moscow from Feb. 10 to Feb. 13.