Archive for May, 2009
Dish TV plans to raise $150 million via FCCBs
Source: Indiantelevision.com MUMBAI: Dish TV, the leading DTH operator in India, plans to raise $150 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) to complete its funding requirement before it operationally breaks even. The funding will be largely towards customer acquisition as the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group company targets to mop up 2.5 million subscribers in the current fiscal. “We plan to raise $150 million via FCCBs. Along with the rights issue, this will more than take care of our funding needs till we turn cash positive,” says a source in the company. Dish »»»
IPTV: BSNL, MTNL do it MyWay
Source: Business Standard The state-owned telecom duo will shortly be rolling out the country’s largest IPTV service. Can they really take on private DTH competitors? State-owned telecom companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) are not generally considered formidable competitors to private sector players. But a new offering franchised to a Delhi-based company could change things — not perhaps in the telecom space but for direct-to-home (DTH) service providers. The challenger: IPTV or internet-protocol TV. “It’s time for DTH to retire, introducing »»»
Slowdown an upside for DTH industry
Source: The Hindu Business Line The slowdown has had a positive impact on the direct-to-home TV industry as consumers have started controlling their entertainment bills by not visiting movie theatres but sticking to their television sets at home. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s report presented on April 1, the DTH market was at 11.1 million consumers at the end of last December. Industry sources say this has now grown to close to 13.5 million. Since early 2008, the industry has been adding about 3 lakh subscribers a month. However, it currently adds seven to eight lakh »»»
UTStarcom to support BSNL’s IPTV roll-out
Source: Thaindian News New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) UTStarcom, a US-based network solutions provider, Tuesday said it will support state-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to roll out IPTV (Internet protocol television) services. UTStarcom’s existing contract with the Indian firm has been extended for this purpose, the company said in a statement. It added that under the contract, UTStarcom will deploy a solution that will connect its customers’ telephone lines to core network across India. This will enable them to get IPTV services. IPTV is a system where a digital television service »»»
Videocon’s DTH to roll out from Punjab, targets 10 June launch
Source: Indiantelevision.com MUMBAI: Videocon will roll out its direct-to-home (DTH) service from Punjab and is targeting 10 June as the date of launch. Being a late entrant, the consumer electronics major is following a different business model to tap into the rapidly growing DTH market. Videocon will have the set-top box in-built into its colour television sets, beginning from a price range of Rs 8000. “We sell two million colour TV sets in a year. We will target this segment for our DTH business as well since the STB will be built into the TV set. We also expect to see a boost in our colour »»»
Big TV looking at affordable digital video recorder
Source: The Hindu Business Line New Delhi, May 19 Reliance ADAG’s Big TV is looking to launch an affordable digital video recorder by the end of the year. Big TV says it is in talks with prospective partners and may consider selling stake, but didn’t share details. Its set top box, other hardware and installation charges cost consumers a base price of Rs 1,490. It is considering two options for the DVR. “We could look at doubling memory from 80 GB to 160 GB with some modification which would cost under $100 or launch the regular DVR at about $150,” said Mr Sanjay Behl, who heads the DTV »»»
Dish TV to premiere UTV’s Delhi 6 on pay-per-view
Source: Indiantelevision.com MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra-owned direct-to-home (DTH) platform Dish TV is set to offer the Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor starrer Delhi-6 on pay-per-view in its Movie-on-Demand (MoD) Premier channel service. The movie is priced at Rs 75 and would be available to viewers on a pay-per-view basis for download for 24 hours. Delhi-6 is a co-production between UTV Motion Pictures and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures with music composed by AR Rahman and lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. Says Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor, “Delhi-6 is an outstanding film which has been acclaimed both by »»»
