(openPR) - The development of pay TV in Brasil has always fallen short of expectations. In 2000, forecasts from the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) indicated that the country would have 16.5 million pay TV subscribers by 2005. Ten years later, the number of customers has barely reached 7.9 million, of which 55% were cable subscribers according to Dataxis Intelligence’s market data (figures as of March 2010).

The discrepancy between the reality of the market and its potential can mainly be attributed to the restriction imposed by the ANATEL concerning the number of cable TV licenses, a limitation that has so far hindered the proliferation of cable services as well as their development throughout the whole country. On a total of 5500 municipalities in Brasil, only 465 cities have cable TV or MMDS.

Hence, the long-awaited change in this restriction, a change that was decided by the ANATEL last week, should finally allow telecommunication operators to satisfy their growing interest in the pay TV market. “The market has been waiting for this for 12 years” said Leila Loria, former President of the Brazilian Association of Pay Television Operators (ABTA) and Chairman of Neo TV (an association dedicated to programming and content). Indeed, the last auction in the country took place in 1998.

Detailed figures and analysis on the Worldwide Pay and Free TV markets are available through Dataxis Intelligence’s market research service.

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DATAXIS, is an international market research and statistical intelligence company that covers 4 play markets worldwide. Our online database: www.dataxis.com contains detailed and up to date data on subscribers, revenues and ARPUs as well as annual forecasts on major operators and technology suppliers. Our news website: www.dataxisnews.com is a great tool to keep telecom professional up to date on the latest developments of the industry. In addition, we also publish our own analyses and Press Releases, under the Dataxis Views Section, that cover different regions worldwide: Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Latin America.

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