Russia’s leading pay-TV operator, Tricolor, claims to have secured satellite broadcasting in the country with the launch of Tricolor Ultra. This “large scale broadcasting project” is hosted on the Russian Express-AT1 satellite at 56 degrees East. Tricolor emphasizes that the main benefit of Tricolor Ultra is its ability to offer exceptional safety from outside interference.

By leveraging the ownership of the satellite, which is Russian, Tricolor expects it to be less susceptible to the impact of sanctions imposed on Russian satellite-delivered TV services. Additionally, it is less vulnerable to actions from neighboring states like Ukraine.

To maintain the quality of their product, Tricolor had to make significant decisions. This included investing in a new teleport in Siberia and acquiring 20 transponders with a capacity of almost 700 MHz. Such resources enable Tricolor to operate Tricolor Ultra, providing viewers with over 300 channels. Approximately one-third of these channels will be available in HD and Ultra HD.

Interference attacks on Russian satellite TV services have reportedly been occurring since the beginning of the year. In response to this, Tricolor conducted a study among subscribers to identify the causes. More than 50% of respondents attributed the interference to “external attacks,” while problems with the satellite were identified as the second reason. As a result, Tricolor advised residents of Kaliningrad, which is near the Polish and Baltic borders, to switch to Express AT-1.

While Tricolor is the leading pay-TV operator in Russia, there are other operators in the market, such as MTS and the Orion Group of companies. It remains to be seen how they will respond to the challenges faced by satellite broadcasting in the country.