Pakistanis Ready for High Quality DTH Services According to Survey

St. Petersburg, Russia, January 28, 2014-- GS Group, a multi-industry high-tech holding company originating from  Russia has just concluded a comprehensive research of the Pay-TV market in Pakistan. The results of two-phased study revealed a  high demand for quality digital TV both among the mass market and higher-income sectors of the country. At the same time it unveiled the major problems influencing the quality of TV services in the country. 

According to the data received from the respondents in a survey conducted last November, over 73 percent of Pakistanis are not satisfied with the quality of cable TV services which are widely spread in the country.

The latest research conducted by GS Group's marketing team in December analyzed TV preferences of Pakistan's higher income  Pay-TV market segment. Respondents comprised of male audience aged 20-65 with average monthly income less than US$ 3,000.  Their answers disclosed the fact that overwhelming majority of Pakistanis are really bothered and highly dissatisfied that there is still no legal quality digital TV service in their country. At  least 59% of respondents showed their strong interest not only in quality digital TV but also in having High Definition (HD) channels in their packages. 93% of the respondents are ready to change their current TV operator to receive high quality services.   

IPTV subscribers provide TV services to 10 percent of the population. However, the prevailing majority of Pakistanis have Internet connection which causes trouble while watching TV. Cable TV is highly affected by whether conditions and geography of the country.

The decision on digital switchover in Pakistan has been postponed for 10 years in a row. The latest research on the Pakistani TV market conducted by Dataxis intelligence agency however shows that despite the expected launch of cable TV services and general legal access to Indian TV, the households in Pakistan are lagging behind the neighboring countries in terms of quality digital TV.