DTH operators to gain from cable war

New Delhi: Indian television broadcasting is getting digitalized very fast and the group who make gains out of this would be DTH operators in the country. DTH operators are expected to capture about 72 percent of the 25 million new subscribers in the next three years through intense competition between the cable and DTH operators, states a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA), a media research firm.

The report conceives that out of 25 million new subscribers added till 2010, 18 million will be DTH subscribers, up nearly three times from 6.3 million subscribers in the current month . A total of 7.2 million digital cable subscribers will be added by the cable firms, a six-fold increase from the existing 1.2 million.

Moreover, a private DTH operator, Big TV is looking at capturing 40 percent of the new DTH subscribers that are likely to be added in the next 12-18 months and Dish TV, currently the largest DTH firm, is expecting to add another two million-plus subscribers till March 2009 to take its tally in excess of 5 million.

Presently, there are four private DTH operators in India and two more are expected to launch by the end of this year.

According to experts, digitalization of cable services, either through DTH or digital cable service will help in increasing the average revenue per user (ARPU) because digital subscribers are accounted by the subscriber management services of both DTH and the cable companies. While Cable ARPU is now hovering around Rs 160 per month, it’s about Rs 170-180 for the DTH firms.

An expert says, “With more digital subscribers joining in, the ARPU of both cable and DTH firms is bound to increase by 25-30 percent in the next three years.”