UKRAINE: VOLIA TO INTRODUCE DIGITAL TV SERVICE IN LVIV STARTING IN 2008
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine
Monday, November 12, 2007

KYIV - The Kyiv largest cable TV operator Volia company intends to introduce digital TV services in Lviv starting 2008. Volia company president Serhii Boiko disclosed this at a press conference.

"This year we are installing the equipment in Lviv. Next year we will provide this service," Boiko said. Plans provide for transition from analogues to digital broadcasting in Lviv within 2-3 years.

At the same time, the company has not yet determined when the like service will come to Alchevsk, Luhansk region and Chernivtsi, where Volia also provides cable TV services.

According to Boiko, to date the company does not intend to extend its regional network, but wants to standardize services in the cities where it presently operates.

Boiko also noted that it is necessary to speed the transition from analogues to digital broadcasting, because the former is becoming practically and economically ungrounded.

"Maintenance of analogues technologies is far more expensive, and not by per cents but times, whereas, unlike digital, it gives nothing to users [of analogues TV] from the point of quality," Boiko told.

Presently, Volia services about 39,000 subscribers of analogues cable TV in Lviv, Alchevsk and Chernivtsi of which over 25,000 are in Lviv.

According to the company's statistics, as of November 7, the number of subscribes to cable TV in Kyiv comprised 520,479 of which 153,767 are subscribers to digital TV service (data as of October 31).

As Ukrainian News reported, Volia intends to fully switch from analogue broadcasting in Kyiv to digital by March 2008.

Volia renders services of analogue cable broadcasting Volia Cable, digital broadcasting Volia Premium TV and Internet access via cable networks Volia Broadband.

Volia Group belongs to international investment fund named UGF (UkrainianGrowthFund), which is controlled by SigmaBleyzer international company.