Bharti's DTH service in first week of October

**curious** · 30-09-2008

NEW DELHI: Bharti group is likely to soft launch its direct-to-home service in the first week of October. The company, according to industry sources, is hoping to get an FIPB approval before that. Market sources said the sales team has sounded out October 8 as the launch date.

A Bharti spokesperson said the company does not comment on market speculation, while adding "we have said we will launch our DTH service by this year". Government had earlier asked Bharti group to seek a separate FIPB approval within three months for it s upcoming DTH services.

"The DTH licensee Bharti Telemedia is ordered to seek separate FIPB approval within three months from the date of issue of this order," a directive issued by Information and Broadcasting Ministry on August 25 said.

The I&B order follows replies by the company to its earlier show-cause notice over alleged 'violation' of FDI and other guidelines. As per the existing guidelines, any foreign investment in cable and broadcasting company requires FIPB approval.

The bone of contention was Bharti Airtel, the group's mobile telephony arm holding 40 per cent stake in Bharti Telemedia, as well as having a cable operator's licence, owning over the permitted stake in the DTH arm.

"Bharti Airtel, which has a 40 per cent share in the DTH licensee company, is registered as a cable operator. The eligibility condition for DTH license provides that the licensee shall not allow broadcasting and/or cable network companies to collective h old or own more than 20 per cent of the total paid up equity in the DTH venture," the notice had said. - PTI

Source: _http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/15291930.htm

**srei** · 01-10-2008

The launch is expected to further make the competition" cut throat" for providers.

**kreacher** · 03-10-2008

^ The only competition that's cut-throat at the moment seems to be marketing. None of the DTH providers are actually providing better service or lower costs

**curious** · 07-10-2008

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel is set to offer its direct-to-home (DTH) service beginning 9 October, to coincide with the occasion of Dussehra.

Bharti is launching the service with 175 channels under the 'Airtel Digital TV' brand.

In the first phase, the DTH service will be rolled out in 62 cities, and will be available through 21,000 retail points including 'Airtel relationship centers'.

Bharti, which has already started a teaser campaign, will now start promotional campaigns from today, with Vidya Balan, R Madhvan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, AR Rahman, Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir.

Source: _http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k8/oct/oct51.php

**curious** · 07-10-2008

More details from the news article on domain-b. It doesn't mention pricing of the hardware and channel packages though. Hopefully, these details will also be out soon.

Mumbai: Bharti Enterprises flagship Bharti Airtel Limited today launched its direct to home (DTH) satellite TV service, Airtel digital TV. Bharti says the service will be available to customers through 21,000 retail points including Airtel Relationship Centres in 62 cities across the country starting 9 October 2008.

Manoj Kohli, CEO and joint MD, Bharti Airtel, said, "Today we are starting a new chapter in our journey, one that adds a new dimension to our existing product portfolio and is a major step towards transforming Airtel from just a telecom brand to a lifestyle enabler. 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."

Airtel digital TV uses the latest MPEG4 standard with DVB S2 technology, which translates into better picture clarity and consistent high quality audio for the customer. This latest technology also enables delivery of more complex interactive content and is high-definition ready.

Airtel digital TV uses 20-per cent larger dish antenna for better performance during rains.

Acording to Atul Bindal, president, Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel, the Indian DTH segment offers immense growth potential.

Airtel says its digital TV brings many firsts to the DTH segment in India that inclde:

Universal remote for both set top box and TV that offers enhanced viewer convenience;

Highest set top box memory enabling more interactive applications;

Exclusive content such as World Space Radio;

Interactive applications such as iMatinee for booking cinema tickets, iTravel for browsing and booking travel packages, iShop fpr shopping on TV, iCity (for city information) and Widgets (for updates on latest stock news). 8 screen iNews, 2 / 4 screen iSports.

Games with high quality graphics, refreshed every 6 weeks

Audio gain control for uniform audio levels across all channels

Simple and intuitive search

On screen account metre

Last viewed channel in case of power disruption / switch off

Low battery indicator on the screen

The company said its DTH seervice is backed by 24x7 customer care available in eight different languages.

Source:_http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_b/Bharti_Tele-Ventures/20081007_dth_tv_service.html

**curious** · 07-10-2008

Please see the attachment. Posted by a member in another forum.

**srei** · 21-10-2008

This festival season should be happy diwali for indian DTH seeker,plenty of options available ,yet no package offers all channels we satellite enthusiasts receive,particularly good russian ones.

**dspdsp** · 21-10-2008

No one has good tariff plan. Every DTH operator has more or less same price to offer.

**olisun** · 22-10-2008

Nobody is going to offer a service priced below their operating costs...

This is what happens in a market where every operator is forced to carry the same channels on their platform and where there are shortage of transponders....

**srei** · 23-10-2008

The problem for the consumer is not that,the real problem is set top box which is of no use when the user is unable to make payment after they increase tariff on whims,remove popular channels from so called free plans.
They should have made their receivers Free to Air.

**curious** · 02-11-2008

Originally Posted by srei

The problem for the consumer is not that,the real problem is set top box which is of no use when the user is unable to make payment after they increase tariff on whims,remove popular channels from so called free plans.
They should have made their receivers Free to Air.

I would say, things are not as bad as they used to be a few years back. As consumer's investment in STB is not that much now, somewhere around Rs. 1K. So the consumer is not at a great loss if he wishes to switch the operator. I still remember paying Rs. 7.5K for a DishTV connection in 2004 as it had a monopoly.

However I agree with you on the point that STB's should not be tied to the operators. The DTH operators are violating TRAI's guidelines on STB interoperability.

**srei** · 29-11-2008

In addition to the above,They(The providers) are not only not making the consumer "owner" of STB(the cosumer is given the STB on rent)but also including radio (FM) channels /other language channels in the number game of showing more and more channels around 100 Rs,(actually the tatal no. of viewable channels is less than half).

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