DTH in India look great. Since cable has penetrated the Indian market in a big way with roughly 40 million C&S homes, it is imperative that in its first few years of operations, paid service of DTH will be focused on a niche market. This niche would basically constitute the rich segment from urban as well as rural areas due to the primary reason of high initial costs for DTH and the associated psychology of people. Since Doordarshan will be starting its novel free-to-air service on Ku band, it is likely to give the prospective private DTH operators tremors and nightmares. The most attractive part of the Doordarshan platform is going to be its low initial cost and no recurring expenditure. This figure is likely to increase due to the increase in TV and Cable households and also the growing multiple TV households, which would form a large percentage of the total subscriber base. Since India's population crossed the one billion mark, it is no surprise that satellite operators and programmers world-wide have set their eyes on the world's largest open market for DTH satellite TV services. |
