Dalgeok

History

2013: Roskomnadzor asks TV channels to stop cooperation with Radugoy TV

Roskomnadzor demanded from TV channels to stop cooperation with the operator of direct satellite broadcasting Dalgeoky (a trademark of Raduga TV) because of absence at the company of the license for broadcasting^[1].

Legal problems at Dalgeokom arose in connection with change of the legislation on which since 2012 the limited radio-frequency resource, including for satellite broadcasting, had to be distributed only at biddings. In 2013 Roskomnadzor contacted police with a request to attract with Dalgeok which had no satellite license, to criminal liability. Problems with the license also arose, for example, at Ricore TV rendering services about 40 thousand active subscribers under the Active TV brand. It became known later that the company will stop activity, and Orion express agreed about transfer on itself of her subscribers.

2014

Criminal case against the company was brought in the summer of 2014.

Roskomnadzor, requiring from Dalgeoky of existence of the license, in parallel refused to the operator its issue. Dalgeoky tried to solve a problem by obtaining the universal broadcasting license for own TV channels, but also in it was refused.

MTS refuses to buy Radugu TV

MTS which is going to start own satellite operator until the end of 2014 conducts negotiations on purchase of the acting participant of this market — Dalgeokom company, the rendering service under a brand of Raduga TV.

Kommersant with reference to participants of the market of digital TV reported about it in October, 2014. MTS confirmed that consider the possibility of such transaction. "In it there is a logic in terms of development of our business due to synergy within sharing of a satellite resource, also we are potentially interested in subscribers of this company" — the representative of MTS Dmitry Solodovnikov reported. According to him, the final decision is not made, the expediency of the transaction is now estimated.

According to one of interlocutors of Kommersant, negotiations rest against the cost of Dalgeokom so far. In February, 2014 the source of Kommersant close to the company told that in 2013 professional appraisers determined the cost of the satellite operator at $100 million. Its financial performance does not reveal. According to TMT Consulting, the share of Dalgeokom in the subscriber base of all paid TV which reached 36 million clients according to the results of the first half of the year made a little more than 1%. The largest market participants were National Satellite Company (NSK; 29%), Rostelecom (21%), MTS, ER-Telecom (on 7%) and Orion-Express (6%). iKS-Consulting estimates a subscriber base of Dalgeokom according to the results of the first half of the year at 445 thousand subscribers.

MTS, according to market participants, became interested in entry into the market of satellite TV in 2012 when the market was not saturated yet. But the project startup then had to be postponed just because of changes in the legislation. The "subsidiary" of AFK "Sistema" (controls MTS) "Digital TV and radio broadcasting" meeting a condition about existence of the existing broadcasting license participated in tender on a possibility of broadcasting from the satellite in the summer of 2014. The sources close to the companies said that the new satellite operator will work under a brand of MTS. Its start is planned until the end of 2014.

Technically projects of MTS and Dalgeokom are similar, will easily integrate them, interlocutors of Kommersant specify. Besides, purchase of Dalgeokom will allow MTS to save on satellite capacity. Now MTS and Dalgeoky rent five transponders on the ABS-2 satellite at the cost about $300-350 thousand a month for everyone. After purchase to the companies will be five transponders on the general canals and on one enough — on unique. So consolidation of tanks will allow to save $0.9-1.05 million a month.

JSC Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) will not buy satellite operator "Dalgeokom" (a brand of Raduga TV). MTS intends to develop the satellite television started recently under a brand of the operator. It was said in November, 2014 by the president of the company Dubovskov Andrey at the press conference devoted to financial results of MTS in nine months 2014.

Dalgeoky stops work

The satellite operator "Dalgeokom" (trademark of Raduga TV) stops work since December 5, 2014. It is said in the statement of the co-owner of the operator – the Swedish holding MTG. Before MTG already wrote off cost belonging to holding of 50% of stocks of the operator in the amount of 147 million Swedish kronur (about 800 million rubles).^[2].

The decision on closing of Raduga TV was difficult, the vice president of MTG Irina Hoffman recognizes. According to her, the company actively worked on solution with licensing, but the way out was not found. For the beginning of December, 2014 Dalgeoky conducts negotiations with other satellite operators on transfer of the subscriber base to them.

The source in the market of a pay TV is sure that the authorities made the conscious decision "clean" the market from small players. In the same bed there is also recently adopted law on advertizing prohibition on the TV channels which do not have radio frequencies.

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