VIVACELL LAUNCHES MOBILE TV IN ARMENIA
Michael Lacquiere
World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
May 10 2010
VivaCell-MTS, the Armenian unit of leading CIS mobile operator Mobile
TeleSystems (MTS), has announced that from 17 May 2010 it will
commercially launch a mobile TV package. The "Basic" package will
comprise nine channels for a price of 400 drams (US$1.03) per day,
including value-added tax. The channels will be available to view
for 24 hours after purchase.
Significance:With mobile penetration in Armenia having reached 97%
at the end of 2009, it is understandable that operators are looking
for alternative means of revenue generation to help bolster performance
as organic subscriber growth opportunities begin to slow down, despite
multiple SIM ownership. A service such as mobile TV is unlikely to be
heavily subscribed as a mobile handset is simply not an ideal mode
for viewing television, but the service may yet prove attractive
to higher-end users. VivaCell’s monthly ARPU was around US$8.7 in
the fourth quarter of 2009, well down on the US$11.4 reported by
the operator in the previous year. Although this is partially due
to the dilutory effects of increased subscriber numbers, VivaCell
will still be hoping that such initiatives as mobile TV could help
to increase ARPU.