Telia Lithuania begins shutdown of DTT following LTE 4G TV launch

Telia Lithuania has begun shutting down its digital-terrestrial pay TV offering, which has seen a fall-off in usage in favour of IPTV in recent years.

Telia said that its Smart TV offering, which is available over its fixed network and – since June – via its LTE 4G network, was now available to 99% of Lithuanians.

Haval van Drumpt

The operator shut down DVB-T transmissions of pay TV channels in Alytus, Birzai, Ignalina, Kedainiai, Marijampolė, Raseiniai, Telšiai, Ukmergė and Utena last week, with transmissions in the Panevezys and Klaipėda regions to follow within weeks.

Finally, in September, broadcasts in Šiauliai, Kaunas and Vilnius will be shut down.

Digital-terrestrial viewers can opt for an IPTV package of the 12 most popular channels in the country for €3.90 a month, while Telia I also offering its 100-channel Smart TV offering free of charge for 30 days, with plans starting at €6 thereafter. The operator said that its IPTV base had grown by 10% over the last year to stand at 215,000.

The DVB-T shut-down follows the launch by Telia of its IPTV service over the LTE 4G network in June.

Telia introduced a series of low-cost packages to drive take-up of the IPTV service, including a 22-channel Mini pack for €6. The 4G service offers up to 100 channels, the majority in HD, with two-week catch-up TV and access to the Kino Klubas video-on-demand service and Vaikų Kampelis kids offering.

Haval van Drumpt, Telia Lietuva’s head of B2C services, said that the operator was shutting down its DVB-T offering because it could “not longer meet the needs of today’s TV viewers”, with the number of users decreasing each year as the operator’s IPTV base grew.