Vrio Corp. provides digital entertainment services. The company conducts all of its operations through its subsidiaries.
As of December 31, 2017, the company provided approximately 13.6 million subscribers in the Region. The Region in which the company operates consists of eight countries in South America and three countries in the Caribbean. The company is a subsidiary of AT&T Inc.
The company offers customers a range of international, regional and local content, including programming, tailor...
Vrio Corp. provides digital entertainment services. The company conducts all of its operations through its subsidiaries.
As of December 31, 2017, the company provided approximately 13.6 million subscribers in the Region. The Region in which the company operates consists of eight countries in South America and three countries in the Caribbean. The company is a subsidiary of AT&T Inc.
The company offers customers a range of international, regional and local content, including programming, tailored to each of the countries and certain sub-markets in the Region and delivered in a range of packages and features so that customers could receive its services in a manner best-suited to their needs.
Digital Entertainment Services
The company offers various digital entertainment services on a postpaid and prepaid basis, both of which include the delivery of its international programming, premium movie and sports programming and tailored local content. It also provides advanced services, which include high-definition (HD), digital video recorder and multi-room viewing. Customers who subscribe to premium content add-ons, such as HBO or national soccer league games, are charged an additional amount. The company also charges additional fees for pay-per-view programming or additional set-top boxes to support multiple televisions in the home.
As of December 31, 2017, the company offered its customers in the South and North Regions approximately 403 standard-definition (SD) channels and approximately 132 HD channels and offered its customers in Brazil approximately 204 SD channels and approximately 130 HD channels, depending on their market and level of service. Through its TV Everywhere, DIRECTVPlay- and SKYPlay-branded services, the company also enables its digital entertainment customers to access their digital entertainment subscriptions on their mobile devices and outside of their homes.
Postpaid: Postpaid customers receive the company’s services during a specified billing period and make payment for those services at the conclusion of the billing period. Potential customers must meet the company’s creditworthiness standards, and when they do not, it refers the customer to its prepaid offering. Postpaid customers access its service for a monthly fee by use of a set-top box and satellite dish for which it retains ownership. The company provides installation services.
Prepaid: Prepaid customers pay in advance to receive the company’s services for a specified period of time. New prepaid customers must acquire the satellite dish, antenna and set-top box by purchasing one of its prepaid kits sold through its distribution network and, as a result of having to purchase such equipment, prepaid customers do not purchase multiple prepaid kits. Customers initially establish a prepaid account through local retailers, kiosks or the company’s commission-based traveling salespeople.
Fixed Wireless Broadband Internet Services
Across select areas within Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, the company offers broadband Internet services. As of December 31, 2017, the company had approximately 567,000 broadband Internet customers and its network covered approximately 7.9 million households across those countries. Its broadband Internet services are offered with speeds ranging from 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps.
The majority of the company’s broadband Internet services customers also subscribes to its pay-TV services, and receives services on a bundled basis. Customers subscribing to a service bundle typically receive a discount from the individual price of these services.
Programming
The company secures the majority of its programming from third parties, such as Globo, HBO, ESPN, Fox and Turner. The company licenses the TV Globo broadcast channel, pay-TV channels, such as SporTV, GloboNews and GNT, and premium services, such as the Telecine movie service and Brasileirao, a premium service consisting of Brazil’s national soccer league games. Its other major content providers include Fox, HBO, Disney/ESPN and Turner, and together with Globo.
The company owns various non-controlling interests in production businesses and certain channels that it distributes, all of which it considers to have strategic value for its business. It owns a 61.5% economic stake and 50% voting interest in Torneos, which engages in sports rights licensing, marketing and production, and to which it contracts much of the production for sporting events and for DIRECTV Sports. Torneos also owns 50% of Tele Red Imagen S.A., which produces and sells the TyC Sports Channel, an Argentine pay-TV sports channel. It also owns a non-controlling 50% interest in WIN Sports, a Colombian pay-TV sports channel which holds Colombia soccer league rights through 2026. The Colombian broadcaster RCN is the other owner of WIN Sports.
Satellites
The company provides its pay-TV services using six geosynchronous satellites, each of which was commissioned by it from Intelsat and was built to its specifications. For the South and North Regions, DLA-1 is its main operating satellite, with DLA-2 and G3C acting as in-orbit backups. Its lease of G3C expires in December 2020.
Broadcast Centers
The company has five broadcast centers that it uses to uplink its signal to its satellite fleet. Programming content is delivered to these facilities from content providers by fiber or satellite, and is then processed, compressed, encrypted and uplinked to satellites for delivery to consumers.
Fixed Wireless Broadband
The company maintains licenses to spectrum in each of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela to deliver broadband Internet services. In Argentina, it provides fixed wireless broadband Internet services in Mendoza, Cordoba and parts of greater Buenos Aires pursuant to licenses to use 50 MHz of 3.6 GHz band spectrum in seven geographic areas within Argentina. In Brazil, the company holds 21 licenses to use 35-50 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum to provide fixed wireless broadband Internet services in approximately 680 different municipalities pursuant to a multimedia communications license. In Colombia, the company provides fixed wireless broadband Internet services pursuant to a national license to use 70 MHz of 2.5 GHz band spectrum. In Venezuela, it acquired a license to use 40 MHz of 2.5 GHz band spectrum to provide wireless services in Venezuela.
Customer Care Centers
The company provides customer service through six customer care centers located throughout the Region that serve customers pan-Regionally.
Distribution
The company’s approximately 38,700 distribution points are consists of third-party dealers and retail establishments. This network is complemented by approximately 14,000 installers and other technicians who are positioned to respond to customer service needs. In addition, the company augments its fixed distribution points with commission-based, traveling salespeople in the South and North Regions. The company has three primary channels through which it markets and delivers its products to customers across the Region.
Dealers: The company maintains partnerships with approximately 15,000 third-party dealers who distribute its products and services, and who sell its set-top boxes under a commission-based compensation structure.
Retailers: Retailers consist of grocery, hardware and big box stores and other similar retailers that are operated by third parties, and are often located in the company’s more mature markets. The company has a network of approximately 14,000 retailers across the Region.
Commission-Based, Traveling Salespeople: Most of the company’s sales in Brazil are through dealers, although it also sells its postpaid products through company-operated telesales, Web-based sales and other channels. Within each country and geographic region, the distribution channel mix is reflective of the market maturity and product mix.
Strategy
The key elements of the company’s strategy include strengthening its leadership position in premium postpaid and drive increased customer lifetime value; targeted provision of fixed wireless broadband Internet services; and continuing to modernize the way it provides content and services to its customers.
Trademarks, Service Marks and Trade Names
The company owns or has the right to use the trademarks, service marks and trade names that it uses in connection with its businesses, such as Vrio, DIRECTV, OnDIRECTV, DIRECTV Sports, Cyclone Design, SKY, and SKYPlay.
Competition
The company primarily competes with large operators, such as America Móvil and Telefónicas. It competes in Colombia with Millicom’s UNE/EPM.
Regulation
The company is subject to the rules and procedures of the International Telecommunication Union. The satellites the company uses and its earth stations (the satellite uplink facilities) are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.
History
Vrio Corp. was founded in 1996.
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