Cable-DTH-HITS: complementary and supplementary

The spotlight of the second day at Focus 2009 was on the Direct-to-Home (DTH) sector in a technical session with the representatives from the leading DTH players in the Indian market Dish TV and Airtel DTH on the same panel.

The panel comprised of Mr Rajesh Khattar, President Dish TV; Ajai Puri, Director & CEO, Airtel DTH; Mr Alan Dishington, GM, NDS India and Mr. Mohit Ralhan, Head- Media Baring Private Equity Partners Ltd. The session was moderated by Ms Roop Sharma, President, Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI).

The session revolved around the growth of the DTH market in India, the hurdles faced by the operators for implementation of the technology, ARPUs, FDI norms, taxation. Besides, there were questions that talked about the competition of the DTH operators with the cable industry as well as the possibility of the Headend-in-The-Sky (HITS) to emerge as a competition for the DTH market.

The operators on the panel mentioned that the cost of operation of the DTH platform is comparatively higher in the Indian region; while, the taxation policy creates additional burden on the operator’s part.

Ajai Puri from Airtel remarked, “TH is a platform that encourages digitalisation of the television viewing in the nation. The significance of the DTH platform remains that it is a wireless technology and has reach in the remotest areas where the traditional cable lines cannot reach. DTH is creating a new market for itself”

“We don’t have competition with either the cable industry or the soon to emerge HITS platform. Moreover, the technologies; DTH-cable-HITS are complementary and supplementary to each other. Around 40% of DTH subscribers come from where cable was not available. While, with HITS digitalisation of cable would ultimately upgrade the technology and expands the market,” said Rajiv Khattar from Dish TV.

Alan Dishington from NDS, a leading global pay-tv solution provider discussed about the adoption of DVR (Digital Video Recorder) in India.

While Mohit Ralhan marked that the biggest challenge in front of the DTH industry in India remains to be the FDI (foreign direct investment) norms as they are not synchronised in a right manner. He identified that the operators today have to track the technology that would enable them to deliver the user with the best content.

Source: MediaMughals.com

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