Bharti Airtel set to foray into India's DTH market, to launch Airtel Digital TV from Oct. 9

According to Manoj Kohli, Bharti Airtel did an extensive market research before deciding to launch its DTH service. "The penetration of the (DTH) market is just about 3 percent. We believe that the DTH segment in the country offers immense growth potential. 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 said.

According to Kohli, Airtel has emerged as a market leader in mobile services and broadband segments and is poised to become a leading player in DTH segment as well. The advantage of being able to offer more than one services would make Airtel Digital TV "more viable than other players," he said.

According to Atul Bindal, president, Bharti Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel will be aggressively marketing its DTH service by offering superior quality at competitive prices.

Airtel Digital TV, Bindal said, comprises of advanced technology (MPEG-4 standard with DVB S2 technology) that allows the operator to broadcast more complex interactive content and more channels in a compressed format without losing picture or audio quality and makes it high definition (HD) ready.

"In our effort to provide our customers with enhanced home entertainment service, we will be offering exclusive content like 10 World Space Radio channels and 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)," he said.

In response to consumers' feedback, Bindal said, the company will be offering a universal remote that will control both the set top box as well as the television. The packages, he said, are being priced competitively, at an entry cost of Rs.2499 in northern India and Rs.1499 in southern India (including price of set top box and installation).

The monthly tariff will be waived off for the first six months as an introductory offer. Otherwise, monthly tariffs will vary from Rs.99 to over Rs.400 depending on the package that one chooses, Bindal said, adding that Airtel Digital TV will be offering over 175 channels.

Airtel Digital TV is the sixth DTH service provider to enter India's underpenetrated DTH market.

Presently, Dish TV, with a subscriber base of about 5 million, is the market leader, followed by Tata Sky and Sun Direct TV. Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati provides free DTH service through DD Direct.