MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – SKY, the direct-to-home satellite television unit of Mexican broadcaster Televisa, is preparing to launch a new broadband service that will be initially available in some areas of Mexico City.
“Blue To Go” starts with a basic speed of 3 Megabytes for 149 pesos ($11), that customers can only get if they also buy the direct-to-home starter satellite service of 309 pesos ($23) for 173 channels, a SKY sales representative told Reuters on Friday.
If customers demand more speed, SKY has packages of 6 Mb, 10 Mb and 20 Mb.
More Top Picks Best Air Purifiers For Dust
“We will deliver fiber to the street you live in and then finish the connection with cable to your home,” the sales representative said, adding that the company is still deciding which areas of the city to offer the service first.
SKY’s management was not immediately available for comment. The company ended December with just over 4 million customers, including some in Central America and the Dominican Republic.
Its closest competitor is DISH Mexico – a venture between media conglomerate MVS Comunicaciones and EchoStar Corp – which reached 2.3 million subscribers in 2011.
Telefonos de Mexico, the fixed-line phone firm controlled by the world’s richest man Carlos Slim, has a billing agreement with DISH.
Televisa also owns three other cable companies in Mexico, including Cablevision, which offer similar broadband speeds and prices plus television and phone services, often bundled in packages.
Televisa, the world’s biggest producer of Spanish-language TV programs, joined forces with rival TV Azteca last year to take on Slim, owner of the two leading phone companies in the country, as they elbowed for room in the telecoms market.
Televisa’s $1.6 billion bid for TV Azteca’s sister cellphone company Iusacell is under review by competition watchdog Cofeco after three of five commissioners blocked the transaction in February. Their final ruling is expected by mid-year.
TV Azteca has also marketed its fiber-optic service Totalplay which is deploying in the capital. ($1 = 13.24 pesos)
(Reporting By Cyntia Barrera Diaz and Veronica Gomez)