Technology Blog

In Today’s The Times of India front page has an advertising which hints at the possibility of upcoming launch of Bharti Airtel Digital TV.

We are already seeing houses with Airtel Dishes installed on them as the company continues to test out the services.

Bharti would become the next major player in this market which has become real competitive.

Zee Dish TV, Tata Sky, Reliance Big TV, Sun Direct DTH are some of the existing players in the Indian DTH market.

Checkout the Ad:

More…

As Published in The Economic Times – Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s top telecom firm, said on Tuesday it would launch direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television services from O

ct. 9, initially in 62 cities.
“The penetration of the market is just about 3 percent. We have just seven million DTH customers in the country. This is a right time for Airtel to enter,” Manoj Kohli, the firm’s chief executive officer, told a news conference.

Besides the latest technology, Airtel digital TV brings many firsts to the DTH segment in India:

• Universal remote for both Set Top Box and TV that offers enhanced viewer convenience;
• Highest Set Top Box memory enabling more interactive applications;
• Exclusivecontent such as World space Radio;
• Interactive applications such as iMatinee (Book cinema tickets), iTravel (Browse and book travel packages), iShop (Shop on TV for your favorite brands), iCity (Get your city’s information) and Widgets (Update yourself on latest stock news). 8 screen iNews, 2 / 4 screen iSports.
• Amazing 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 meter
• Last viewed channel in case of power disruption/switch off
• Low battery indicator on the screen

Airtel DTH toll free customer care number 18001028080

Cost Rs. 2500/-
Free for tree months with 130 channels, after three months 200+ channels with package starting from 150/-PM.

Website:
Their website seems to be under construction. It can be this – Site Under Construction (Not sure but this can be a site).

TV Advert:
I saw their advertisement on TV. It has stars like: Vidya Balan, AR Rehman, Kareena Kapoor, Irfaan Pathan and many many more in just 1 advertisement. It starts from Airport and ends at home where Kareena welcomes a common man to watch TV with stars. (Thats a basic theme of that advert).

News:
Commercially launching their services on October 09, 2008. 62 cities would be covered initially. (Source: CNBC Awaaz News scroller)

Detailed News:

Bharti group is likely to softlaunch 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 Octobe r 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

Old Story:

Leading cellular service provider Bharti Airtel is all set to launch its DTH (direct-to-home) TV service, and is even ready to leverage the 7.50 crore mobile subscribers it has across India to garner a major chunk of the 50 lakh customers expected to purchase DTH next year.

“We are on the verge of launching our DTH services, and will be looking at ‘one knock on the door’ solutions wherein we offer customers with voice, data, broadband as well as DTH services. We might even come up with a bulk plan offering all these services,” said Atul Bindal, president for telemedia services at Bharti Airtel.

He further added that, in addition to tapping its telecom subscribers, Airtel would also utilise its network of 9,23,472 Airtel Galleries and outlets to further push its DTH service.

“We have already conducted trial runs among our employees. We are just waiting to increase our reach for the DTH platform, then we will launch the services,” said Bindal, but he refused to divulge the exact date for the DTH service’s launch.

Bharti Airtel will become only the second firm after Reliance-ADA Group’s Big TV to roll out a DTH TV service on the latest MPEG-4 technology platform. The Sunil B Mittal-controlled network has set up infrastructure in Gurgoan for uplinking and broadcasting.

“We have already tied up with IBM for front-end IT systems, and will have staff across the 62 locations where we are launching the service initially,” said Bindal, while revealing that his firm will charge fees comparable to other DTH TV service providers and which are generally higher than cable TV fees.

The other existing DTH players include Doordarshan’s DirectPlus, Zee group’s Dish TV, the joint-venture TataSky and recent debutante Reliance-ADA’s Big TV.

According to industry estimates, these firms currently serve 65 lakh customers out of a total 7 crore cable and satellite households in India.

However, according to a report by industry body FICCI and Price-WaterhouseCoopers, the segment will expand at an impressive 44 per cent compounded annual growth rate till at least 2012. In comparison, cable TV households are expected to register a mere 2 per cent growth.

Major Newspaper’s Headlines

India’s Bharti to launch DTH services on Oct.9

Source: Reuters

NEW DELHI, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s top telecoms firm, said on Tuesday it would launch direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television services from Oct. 9, initially in 62 cities.

“The penetration of the market is just about 3 percent. We have just seven million DTH customers in the country. This is a right time for Airtel to enter,” Manoj Kohli, the firm’s chief executive officer, told a news conference.

And now, Airtel to enter direct-to-home television market

Source: Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Telecom operator Airtel Tuesday announced the launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service. The service will be available in 62 cities from Oct 9, a senior company official said here.

“This is a right time for Airtel to enter the market. We are very clear at Airtel and will take over as a leader of the sector as soon as possible,” Airtel chief executive officer and managing director Manoj Kohli said.

According to Kohli, the company’s DTH services will have universal remote for both set top box (STB) that receives signal from the antenna, and the television set, besides other features such as high STB memory, exclusive interactive applications, onscreen games and more efficient battery.

Airtel to enter direct-to-home television market

Source: The Times Of India

NEW DELHI: Telecom operator Airtel on Tuesday announced the launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service.

The service will be available in 62 cities from October 9, a senior company official said here.

“This is a right time for Airtel to enter the market. We are very clear at Airtel and will take over as a leader of the sector as soon as possible,” Airtel chief executive officer and managing director Manoj Kohli said.

According to Kohli, the company’s DTH services will have universal remote for both set top box (STB) that receives signal from the antenna, and the television set, besides other features such as high STB memory, exclusive interactive applications, onscreen games and more efficient battery.

Bharti shares up ahead of DTH launch

Source: Indiainfoline.com

Shares of Bharti Airtel have perked up by over 3% to Rs750 after the company announced that it would launch DTH services on October 9, 2008. The company also said that the TV service would be available in 62 Indian cities.

The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs768 and a low of Rs733 and has recorded volumes of over 16,00,000 shares on NSE.

Bharti Airtel had hit 52-week high of Rs1,184 on October 10, 2007 and 52-week low of Rs651 on September 30, 2008.

===========================================

Bharti Airtel has announced the launch of Airtel digital TV, its Direct To Home (DTH) Satellite TV service. The service will be available to customers through 21,000 retail points including Airtel Relationship Centres in 62 cities across the country starting October 9, 2008. At present there are five DTH players in the Indian market.

On the occasion, Mr Manoj Kohli, CEO and Jt. MD, Bharti Airtel saud, “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 of 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 exceptional 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. Also, Airtel digital TV uses 20% larger dish antenna that offers better performance during rain.

Mr Atul Bindal, President- Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel, added, “We believe that the Indian DTH segment offers immense growth potential going forward. Given our deep understanding of Indian customer, we believe that Airtel has created an excellent product offering. 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.”

Besides the latest technology., Airtel digital TV brings many firsts to the DTH segment in India:

1) Universal remote for both Set Top box and TV that offers enhanced viewer convenience
2) Highest Set Top Box memory enabling more interactive applications
3) Exclusive content such as World space radio
4) Interactive applications such as iMatinee (Book cinema tickets), iTravel (Browsw and book travel packages), iShop (Shop on TV for your favourite brands), iCity (Get your city’s information) and Widgets (Update yourself on latest stock news). 8 screen iNews, 2/4 screen iSports
5) Amazing games with high quality graphics, refreshed every six weeks
6) Audio gain control for uniform audio levels across all channels
7) Simple and intuitive search On screen account meter
9) Last viewed channel in case of power disruption/switch off
10) Low battery indicator on the screen.

The customer care is available in 8 different languages and a team of 800 professionally trained service engineers.

Recent News

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Bharti shares up ahead of DTH launch – India Infoline.com

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