Direct-To-Home (DTH) services are taking off in India. Tata Sky became the second private DTH operator when it launched its services in August, nearly three years after Dish TV introduced DTH services in October 2003.





There are three players offering DTH services in India viz. Dish TV, Tata Sky and DD Direct Plus. Two other companies--Reliance and Sun TV--are likely to enter the market soon.

Dish TV is 20 percent owned by Zee Telefilms, Tata Sky is a 80:20 joint venture between the Tata group and Star TV, while DD Direct Plus is Government-owned.

Tata Sky has launched its DTH service in 300 cities, with an introductory offer of Rs200 (US$4.5) per month for a bouquet of 55 channels. The settop box (STB) has been priced at Rs3,999 (US$90), inclusive of installation cost.

Dish TV is priced at Rs180 (US$4) per month for a bouquet of 80 channels. The one-time cost of STB is Rs3,190 (US$70), which includes free subscription for the first three months.

Star TV and Zee TV are the top two TV networks in India. Due to rivalry between these two, channels from Star's stable are not available on Dish TV and vice versa. But following government directives, both have agreed to carry each other's channels.

The DTH operators are touting DVD-quality video and sound, movies-on-demand, interactive gaming and electronic program guides as added advantages of their service.

Out of India's 110 million TV homes, there are around 65 million cable and satellite TV homes. Dish TV has over 1 million subscribers as against DD Direct's 5 million which operates a free DTH service.





For consumers, the advent of DTH services signal the end of Cablewalla Raj. Cable TV operators had virtual monopoly over the last mile, as there was only one operator in every locality. With monopoly comes power and its abuse. Consumers were forced to accept price hikes, channels on prime bands were chosen by operators, and there was no recourse against poor quality of service.

Even if DTH only manages to reach the projected 25 percent penetration of cable homes in five years, it would have gained a major victory for the consumer. DTH gives the customer an alternative to the cable operator, an option which he did not have before. This will create competition in the market and will thus be an impetus to the betterment of the industry in general.