Satellite TV only available upon at least 100-lei advance payment

Telecom operators have become much more mindful of costs, and have started to no longer subsidise the acquisition of equipment for satellite TV.

Whereas two or three years ago, customer who wanted to buy a satellite TV service only needed a minimal amount of documents and a pen to sign the contract, at present none of the three big players left on the market seals a new contract unless the user makes an advance payment that starts from around 100 – 120 lei, in the form of various fees, show the offers of RCS&RDS, Romtelecom and UPC.

At RCS&RDS, no. 1 on the market, with over 1,1 million customers, a new user has to pay at least 106 lei, the TV subscription excluded, in order to become a subscriber.

At Romtelecom (Dolce), no. 2 on the market with around 900,000 users, a new customer must pay a 120-lei guarantee (which will be returned after six months) and opt either for renting or buying the set top box.

At Focus Sat, UPC’s satellite division, the customer must pay 119 lei, the value of six-month TV services if they want to rent the equipment.

What did offers look like two years ago? On a market with five players, where Boom TV and AKTA Satelit (which have been bought by Romtelecom) were still growing, both RCS&RDS and Dolce offered free use of the receivers, as well as three to six months of free subscription. According to unofficial data on the market, one of the reasons that led to this change was the increase in the number of customers who did not pay the subscription after the free-of-charge periods expired.