Some recent analysis reports confirmed satellite television (DTH) as an increasingly developing technology in Latin America, and there are simple reasons to understand these favourable projections: telephonies consider satellite television as the quickest way to reach all subscribes without restrictions, to which it will provide new attracting offers existing in each of the markets. Telefónica has resorted to DTH to defend its telephony customers in Brazil, making a mix with the acquired cable operator TVA and MMDS.  The company, that provides DTH in Chile and Colombia, as well, is planning its launching in Argentina, while it defines the model it will implement in Mexico.

Moreover, Telmex has decided for DTH resource in Chile and now it about to launch an offer in Mexico, as taken from the request submitted before the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico (SCT) for the authorization to provide satellite educational TV. Carlos Slim’s group does not hide certain anxiety to launch TV as soon as possible in the country of origin. But it will not do so through the more convenient way, but through anyone it may find, either DTH or IPTV. And the clearest option in the short term is DTH, taking as base the satellite availability it will have with the launching of anew satellite  belonging to its controlled Embratel, relevant in the Mexican territory. However, it has been known that tests made with IPTV have not completely convinced those responsible for TV projects.

In Mexico, DTH in particular, is also among the priorities of important groups, such as Multivisión -belonging to Vargas family- and Pegaso, to Burillo Azcárraga. Multivisón needs to move to MMDS, to another scale, business in which it is the indisputable leader, though already restricted and in danger of falling due to the increase of offers aimed at families of medium and low resources, target on which Vargas’s has focused its successful offer. With Pegaso, interest in Intelsat is logical, -associated in the Aztec territory.

Now, considering all those groups interested in pay TV subscribers, the first question arising is predictable. Does Mexico have so much potential for such number of DTH offers, knowing that the only current group, Sky, has posed difficulties to grow? Additionally considering the cable TV business which is stirred up by the possibility of Triple Play and Televisa's arrival.

There are some other studies on the Mexican market, which are willing to report a pretty high growth potential in the following five years. However, there is actual data, which should not be overlooked: with more than 100 million of inhabitants and with an industry that was created by mid last century, Mexico has fewer subscription TV customers than in a smaller country, such as Argentina and with fewer years of activity in this segment. There is a roof – which business characters were not able to use up yet- built by the Mexican culture in the audio visual aspect.

Interest in open TV and in a certain kind of contents of the Mexican media -which moves channel multi-offer to an inferior level-, has been setting limits so far. And there are no signs of a radical change. There is the challenge for this number of offers arising every day in Mexico, which has become the star market for big group of media, telephony companies and investing groups. Although more dramatically, something similar happens in Brazil, another country with potential, but it has a population very related to the historical consumption (Open TV, soap operas, light contents), from which it hard to remove it.