In the latest survey of revenue leakage over the last 12 months to the regional pay-TV industry, conducted by the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) and Standard Chartered Bank, the losses are conservatively estimated to stand at $1.54 billion, (E1.06bn) as compared to $1.13 billion in 2006.

While the China market remains uncharted territory for the annual estimates, this year the newly developing pay-TV market in Pakistan has been added to the calculations, with losses that stand at $110 million. Estimates for Pakistan's unauthorised market show 4.6 million pirated cable-TV subscriptions in a market with some 345,000 legitimate subscriptions to pay-TV services. Excluding Pakistan, the regional figure stands at $1.43 billion, up $300million, representing a 26 per cent increase in lost revenues compared to 2006.

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