DirecTV Latin America (DTLVA) has been one of the big success stories in recent years, as the regional operator continues to add huge amount of subscribers across its operations. The company added around three million subscribers across all of its platforms in Latin America in 2011.
   DTLVA is now looking to transform into a key regional broadband player, according to DTVLA CEO Bruce Churchill, who believes there is a strong opportunity for the company after Sky Brazil, in which it has an over 90 percent s stake, launched a 4G wireless network based on TD-LTE technology.

Via Satellite: How does the broadband market in Latin America compare with its counterpart in North America?

Churchill: The state of broadband development in Latin America is in a much different place than it is in the United States today. Broadband penetration in somewhere like Brazil and I am talking about penetration in the home, the penetration is around 30 percent in Brazil. Even then, the quality of the service is not high. When living in United States, you think of speeds from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps. That is simply not available in Brazil. When people talk about broadband in Brazil, they are talking of speeds of around 512 Kbps. The speeds and the quality of the service is much lower, even if the company advertise services of up to 3 Mbps, you may only get half of that when you want to use it in the evening. 

Via Satellite: Does broadband service work as a natural complement to pay-TV in Latin America?

Churchill: The profile of people who subscribe to pay-TV are probably very similar to those who subscribe to broadband. It is our plan to develop a service that actually delivers what we promise. So, it will be wireless to the home, and we will be selling speeds of 2 Mbps to 4 Mbps, at least initially. We will bundle it with our pay-TV product and at a slight discount, and we will see how that goes.

Via Satellite: You’ve been ramping up your activities in Brazil. What are your company’s plans for that market?

Churchill: We have launched in Brazil in January. It is in its early days. We are just finishing out completing the network in that city. We have spectrum holdings that cover a little less than 20 percent of the GDP in Brazil. We would be looking to roll out this service in four to five more cities this year in Brazil. So, it is not an instantaneous nationwide rollout. It is something we will rollout over time. I think there is an overlap with the customers we have and the customers that could subscribe to broadband. It is more a function of our ability to get spectrum.

Via Satellite: How will Ka-band play a role in Latin America’s broadband development?

Churchill: I believe Ka-band is much more expensive than wireless or fixed line broadband and limited in its ability to deliver comparable speeds. I also think Ka-band tends to be limited to those areas where there is no viable alternative. Certainly, in the United States, there are very few areas like that left now. There are big parts of Latin America, where there won’t be terrestrial or wireless broadband anytime soon. The amount of people that could afford a relatively expensive broadband product is somewhat speculative. I think there is a place for it, but I don’t see it being a big solution here.