Indian Railways Ahead In Passenger Occupancy Has An Edge Over

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has reserved eight 36 MHz transponders on the Intelsat K-TV satellite, which is scheduled for launch later this month.

It is expected to offer the transponders (all-KU-band) to Indian TV broadcasters on a per-minute basis, which is a cheaper than leasing whole transponders.

Sources in the space industry said VSNL had firmed up the deal with Intelsat in principle, which would be finalised once the K-TV satellite becomes functional around July.

VSNL, which is a small shareholder in the Intelsat consortium, markets Intelsat services in India.

Broadcasting industry sources indicated that some Indian broadcasters were likely to take transponder space on K-TV on lease as part of their expansion plans.

 

The sources said that Zee TV may come on to K-TV for its proposed regional channels.

"We have the option of choosing between Intelsat's next satellite and Singapore Telecom's ST-1 for our future channels," Zee Telefilms Ltd's managing director V Jindal had told Business Standard sometime back.

The others that may hop on to Intelsat's K-TV include Enaadu TV and telecasters who, in hope of covering the whole of India, may switch from their existing satellites like the Palapa series of satellites.

VSNL would be offering rates of Rs 8,000 for the first 10 minutes and Rs 300 for every minute thereafter. Whole transponders would also be available for lease periods of three years and above for about $3 million.

Long-term lease of up to 15 years, which was the satellite's design life would also be available, subject to negotiations.

The K-TV satellite's launch is expected to slash satellite transponder rates in the Asia-Pacific region as Intelsat is tying up with broadcasters in several countries to offer the satellite services directly to home users.

In India, since VSNL has a monopoly over external communication services, the international agency has gone in with them. K-TV is the first satellite offering dedicated telecast platform in this region, including direct-to-home (DTH).

The "India beam" on the K-TV has twelve 36 MHz transponders with each channel capable of handling seven digitally-compressed TV channels.

In the DTH digital format, it will be possible to receive clear TV programmes with a 45 cm rooftop antenna. However, a separate digital decoder would be needed to decode the digital signals and convert them into analog format. In the analog mode, the satellite can beam through the standard cable network better picture and sound quality than that on present-day satellites, thanks to its peak transmission power of 54 decibel watts (dbw). Other communication satellites in the Indian region, like the Insat series, manage only 36 dbw in the downlink mode.

"K-TV is an investment.The lease amount is calculated based on the analog reception format. If the rules change, the operator can offer superior quality service, charging more from his customer for it, while his transponder cost remains the same," an industry source said.