Published:  12.9.2019

Digita will become the largest operator to distribute pay-TV services in Finland at the beginning of 2020. The company plans to reform the business models of paid television services in the terrestrial television network and expand its current service offering.

On 12 September 2019, the competition authorities approved a deal announced by Digita and DNA in the summer that will transfer DNA’s pay-TV business and pay-TV customers in the terrestrial television network to Digita on 1 January 2020. The deal will make Digita the largest operator to distribute pay-tv channels in Finland. Digita’s terrestrial television channels can be viewed in 1.2 million households and 600,000 summer cottages.

“We are very pleased that we will now be able to rapidly develop a completely new type of pay-TV service”, says Digita’s acting CEO Markus Ala-Hautala. “Our intention is to provide terrestrial television viewers with at least as diverse content as has been the case so far. We are building a more flexible and modern pay-TV environment. This means that, in addition to high-quality channel content, we will offer viewers hybrid TV services with programme libraries and separately ordered channels and programmes”, Ala-Hautala continues.

“Digita is also offering new commercial models for content providers. The idea is that domestic and foreign OTT operators could provide their services directly to terrestrial television households. We also provide the opportunity for event television and pop-up channels that diversify the business models of paid television services”, says Ala-Hautala. “Abundant, versatile and changing content as well as the ease of ordering will attract new audiences to pay-TV”, Ala-Hautala believes.

Digita distributes pay-TV channels in its UHF network. ”We will expand the population coverage of pay-TV services from the current 85% to 90%”, says Ala-Hautala. The aim is to minimise changes to current pay-TV customers, which is why Digita’s pay-TV services are currently also being sold through DNA’s sales network.

Digita will inform pay-TV customers in the terrestrial network about the upcoming reform during the autumn.

Digita owns and operates the premier, nationwide terrestrial television and radio network in Finland and is the largest independent owner of telecom towers in the country. The company is a provider of digital infrastructure and services. Digita’s services include telecom towers, data centre and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions as well as future broadcasting services. Services are provided to the country’s largest mobile network operators, Internet and media companies, utilities and real estate owners. Digita employs 180 industry professionals nationwide.