D*sh Mexico Tops 500,000 Subs

The D*sh-led consortium has declared it has 530,000 subscribers in Mexico.

The Echostar D*sh, Telmex and MVS partnership that offers DTH services in Mexico, has recorded 530,000 subscribers in the 10 cities the service is offered, including Distrito Federal, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Cuernavaca, Toluca y Puebla. "This sets a historical pay-TV record in our country," the company pointed out in a press release. Its DTH service will be expanded to ten new cities within the next weeks.

"D*sh Mexico has encouraged healthy and strong competition, thus forcing other companies to lower prices and to offer new options, which accounts for a benefit for Mexican consumers," D*sh stated. BBVA Bancomer forecasts that D*sh's great growth would impact negatively on Grupo Televisa's telecommunications and video segment's 2Q figures.

"The strong competitive pressure posed by D*sh-Telmex alliance, in addition to the difficult economic situation, will result in the video segment's lower growth," Andrés Cuello, a BBVA telecoms analyst, stated in a note to clients.