Bharti Airtel launches DTH service

With the launch of Airtel's 'Digital TV', the new direct-to-home (DTH) service from the telecom operator has become the sixth DTH service provider and the second to launch its service this year behind Reliance ADA group's Big TV. Others in the category include Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct and DD Direct Plus.
 
Airtel's Digital TV will be available to the consumers from October 9 across 62 towns initially. Airtel's DTH service will offer 175 channels and will be distributed to its potential customers through 21,000 retail points including airtel relationship centres, the company said today.
 
"This is a right time for Airtel to enter the market.... the launch of Airtel Digital TV is the culmination of our 'three screens' strategy, which is to be present across mobile phone, computer and TV screens. We are very clear that Airtel will take over as a leader of the sector as soon as possible," Manoj Kohli, the chief executive officer and managing director of Bharti Airtel said.

At present, there are five DTH players in the Indian market, with the four private operators having a combined subscriber base of about 7.5 million.
 
Currently, the market is dominated by Essel Group's Dish TV DTH service (about 4 million subscribers) followed by Tata Sky (2.7 million subscribers), Sun Direct (1 million subscribers) and Big TV ( half million subscribers).

State-owned Prasar Bharati's DTH service DD Direct Plus is the only free-to-air service, where consumers do not pay any monthly subscription fees.

According to sources, DD Direct Plus has a subscriber base of about 3-4 million subscribers, mostly in the remote corners of the country not connected by terrestrial or cable television.

"With added benefits of Airtel's strong brand equity and wide distribution network, we are well placed to emerge as a leading player in the segment," he added.
 
Initially, the company had introduced three different packages for the North and Southern markets. For the Northern market, the package starts from Rs 2,499 and for the South, the package would start from Rs 1,499. Depending on the language and genre of channels, the monthly tariffs would range from Rs 125 to Rs 424, the company said.