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TVTEL
TVTEL Comunicações, S.A. was a Portuguese cable pay television and digital satellite service provider. The cable service started in 2001 in the Porto area, acting as its regional operator. In 2007 the provider increased its reach, starting its fiber network in parts of the Lisbon metropolitan area and nationwide by satellite. The satellite service started on 26 June 2007 and it was on the Eurobird 9 satellite, broadcasting FTA and Conax-encrypted channels for the whole of Europe. It was bought by ZON in early 2009 and subsequently closed by it by merging its operations with ZON Multimédia in late 2009.
Ahead of the start of TVTEL, on 17 December 1996 APOCABO - Associação Portuguesa de Operadores Privados de Comunicações por Cabo was formed, as a group of independent cable television companies: its members being Bragatel, Pluricanal and Intercabo. TVTEL later joined upon its founding in 1999.
As TVTEL was already starting its services, it announced on 27 August 2000 that the service was due to begin in October, providing 45 channels, 10% being exclusive to the provider, as a competitor to TV Cabo. Paulo Pereira considered that the technical quality presented by the new network will be "superior" to that of TV Cabo, due to the advanced equipment the provider had, in contrast to the competitor's equipment from years earlier. One of the "strategic decisions" taken by TVTEL was "to provide the network with more optical fiber than would have been normal two or three years earlier, allowing for "better signal quality", noting that the equipment became "more affordable in monetary terms". For the time being, TVTEL was set to cover around 250,000 homes and businesses, offering television, internet and multimedia services. For the long-term future, contacts were already being made in order to offer fixed telephone and data services for companies, in association with one of the new national telecommunications operators. There were also pilot tests for an interactive TV service, aimed to start in September.
There was the possibility to open a regional information channel, but the administrator was hesitant about "the feasibility and the existence of space for such a project", adding that, in any case, TVTEL's experience was to involve "making networks" instead of creating television channels. Even so, the company planned to convert its web portal (www.olaporto.com) into a local information channel that would also be seen in the provider.
When it started regular services in October 2000, TVTEL had plans to expand its service to Lisbon. When the decision was mooted, Paulo Pereira stipulated that "no concrete step has yet been taken in this direction, but this is something that has always been on the table". The priority taken at the time was to install the cable network in Porto and, thanks to their experience, gain more subscribers. The goal was to reach 5,000 subscribers in the first year, raising to 20,000 in the second and 40,000 in the third. TVTEL also owned three websites, the local OlaPorto.com, tech website TecMania.com and lifestyle website CasaPronta.com, as well as buying Expernet aiming to provide services for companies.
In November 2000, a banking syndicate led by Banco BPI and comprising Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Banco Comercial Português signed a medium and long-term financing agreement with TVTEL, amounting to €15 million, enabling the completion of the financial coverage of the infrastructure. In the same month TVTEL began the installation of its hybrid fiber optic/coaxial network in the Ramalde area, in the municipality of Porto, providing cable television services (46 channels) and cable internet access, with long-term prospects for the offer of interactive digital TV and fixed telecommunications services.
The existing web portal OlaPorto.com was set to have a version for interactive digital TV and broadband content to be developed during 2001. A contract was signed with the city council on 21 June 2001 to offer free internet access to primary schools. The network rolled out in Vila Nova de Gaia in July 2001.
NTV, at the time a private cable channel, bought by RTP the following year, and produced from Porto, was added to TVTEL's lineup at the time of launch in October 2001. On 5 December the premium channel offer was increased to include the two Telecine channels and the newly launched Disney Channel. The company started delivering the channels' monthly schedule magazine in January 2003.
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TVTEL
TVTEL Comunicações, S.A. was a Portuguese cable pay television and digital satellite service provider. The cable service started in 2001 in the Porto area, acting as its regional operator. In 2007 the provider increased its reach, starting its fiber network in parts of the Lisbon metropolitan area and nationwide by satellite. The satellite service started on 26 June 2007 and it was on the Eurobird 9 satellite, broadcasting FTA and Conax-encrypted channels for the whole of Europe. It was bought by ZON in early 2009 and subsequently closed by it by merging its operations with ZON Multimédia in late 2009.
Ahead of the start of TVTEL, on 17 December 1996 APOCABO - Associação Portuguesa de Operadores Privados de Comunicações por Cabo was formed, as a group of independent cable television companies: its members being Bragatel, Pluricanal and Intercabo. TVTEL later joined upon its founding in 1999.
As TVTEL was already starting its services, it announced on 27 August 2000 that the service was due to begin in October, providing 45 channels, 10% being exclusive to the provider, as a competitor to TV Cabo. Paulo Pereira considered that the technical quality presented by the new network will be "superior" to that of TV Cabo, due to the advanced equipment the provider had, in contrast to the competitor's equipment from years earlier. One of the "strategic decisions" taken by TVTEL was "to provide the network with more optical fiber than would have been normal two or three years earlier, allowing for "better signal quality", noting that the equipment became "more affordable in monetary terms". For the time being, TVTEL was set to cover around 250,000 homes and businesses, offering television, internet and multimedia services. For the long-term future, contacts were already being made in order to offer fixed telephone and data services for companies, in association with one of the new national telecommunications operators. There were also pilot tests for an interactive TV service, aimed to start in September.
There was the possibility to open a regional information channel, but the administrator was hesitant about "the feasibility and the existence of space for such a project", adding that, in any case, TVTEL's experience was to involve "making networks" instead of creating television channels. Even so, the company planned to convert its web portal (www.olaporto.com) into a local information channel that would also be seen in the provider.
When it started regular services in October 2000, TVTEL had plans to expand its service to Lisbon. When the decision was mooted, Paulo Pereira stipulated that "no concrete step has yet been taken in this direction, but this is something that has always been on the table". The priority taken at the time was to install the cable network in Porto and, thanks to their experience, gain more subscribers. The goal was to reach 5,000 subscribers in the first year, raising to 20,000 in the second and 40,000 in the third. TVTEL also owned three websites, the local OlaPorto.com, tech website TecMania.com and lifestyle website CasaPronta.com, as well as buying Expernet aiming to provide services for companies.
In November 2000, a banking syndicate led by Banco BPI and comprising Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Banco Comercial Português signed a medium and long-term financing agreement with TVTEL, amounting to €15 million, enabling the completion of the financial coverage of the infrastructure. In the same month TVTEL began the installation of its hybrid fiber optic/coaxial network in the Ramalde area, in the municipality of Porto, providing cable television services (46 channels) and cable internet access, with long-term prospects for the offer of interactive digital TV and fixed telecommunications services.
The existing web portal OlaPorto.com was set to have a version for interactive digital TV and broadband content to be developed during 2001. A contract was signed with the city council on 21 June 2001 to offer free internet access to primary schools. The network rolled out in Vila Nova de Gaia in July 2001.
NTV, at the time a private cable channel, bought by RTP the following year, and produced from Porto, was added to TVTEL's lineup at the time of launch in October 2001. On 5 December the premium channel offer was increased to include the two Telecine channels and the newly launched Disney Channel. The company started delivering the channels' monthly schedule magazine in January 2003.