Italy’s Telepiu entered the new millennium with more than 1,480,000 subscribers, out of which more than one million have chosen its digital satellite platform D+.

Telepiu currently operates both digital satellite and analogue terrestrial services but the latter are gradually being phased out. According to data released on February 23, Telepiu is boasting the highest digital pay-TV subscriber growth rate in Europe, having added more than 500,000 new customers in 1999. Telepiu said that 80 per cent of its digital customers were new and only 20 per cent were subscribers who had switched to D+ from its analogue service.

Short-term development plans will concentrate on interactivity and multimedia, with the intention of offering a complete range of services. They will include Network Games (which will offer new computer games), economic and stock market news as well as a two-way home banking service. Also, during major sports events such as football and boxing, subscribers will be able to access, via their remote control, additional information regarding the event itself such as statistics and the possibility to vote their favourite player.

Telepiu president and CEO Michel Thoulouze has revealed that a new digital box, that will among other things permit Internet access, will be launched in 2001. Thoulouze denied that Telepiu will have to accept an ‘open decoder’ together with Stream, adding that the law in question does not specifically mention ‘open decoders’, but rather concentrates on the right of consumers to access all programmes. He added that Telepiu is already in order and that it’s up to the competition to conform to the rules.

His comments provoked an immediate reply from Communications Under-secretary Vincenzo Vita. Vita pointed out that the law in question was amended last year and imposes the ‘open decoder’ from July 1, 2000. He added that his ministry recently received confirmation from the Telecommunications Authority of the imminent publication of the technical specifications regarding the application of the law in question.