Sagem grows with IPTV, DVB and HD in Colombia

[khurramdar]

Sagem grows with IPTV, DVB and HD in Colombia

The French provider Sagem has already managed to ship 180,000 IPTV STBs to the Colombian operator Une, which, in February, recorded over 100 thousand users of such technology in Medellín and Bogotá with an installation average of 1,6 STB per home. Likewise, Sagem is planning to sell 50 thousand DVB-T boxes to TDT in Colombia over the course of this year.
Sagem has become stronger thanks to the expansion of HD services, one of the company's main strengths. Sagem was the first operator in betting strongly on high definition for DVB cable systems in 2008. Last year, Telefónica de Peru chose its HD STBs for Cablemágico where eight thousand units have already been installed and have also managed to penetrate in Telefónica's DTH with its HD boxes in Colombia. 25 thousand HD IPTV STBs have also been installed in Une.

Given the fact that HD will be one of the main promoters of free-to-air digital TV in Colombia, Sagem also bets strongly on this market which is still uncertain. Colombian authorities hope that broadcastings start with high definition in the next Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa in June, and have offered the infrastructure of the state owned RCTV so that Caracol TV and RCN, which hold the rights, can broadcast digital signals at least in Bogotá.