DD Free Dish turns the heat on private DTH players

Some like Videocon d2h are negotiating with broadcasters to create differentiated content

It’s the DTH (direct-to-home) industry’s telecom moment. Akin to the price war started by Reliance Industries’ (RIL)’s aggressive foray in telecom, private DTH players such as Dish TV, Tata Sky and Videocon d2h, among others, are witnessing strong disruption from government-owned DTH provider DD Free Dish over the past year or so. 

The company has grown its revenues by 53 per cent in FY17 to Rs 275 crore and added seven million subscribers in the past one year (see table), albeit on a smaller base. It now has close to 22 million subscribers, an increase of almost 47 per cent over