Dish Networks India

The DTH players are all geared up. Not for providing you cheaper prices this times, but something as equally important if not better, which is getting you new features (and no, we are not talking about a new game or another active channel this time). These features are all the things you’ve always desired on your STB, and the stuff we’ve been talking about since quite some time now. As the title of this article goes, expect the unexpected. But let me list some features we at SaveOnDish are looking forward to from DTH players.

1. Recording facility: Tata Sky Plus already has this, and now it is expected from the other players including Dish TV and Airtel DTH to start offering their viewers with an option such as this so that they could also record their favorite programs in one go and watch them later. I personally am getting TS+ for this very feature and there is a lot of room for clientele when it comes to services like these.

2. Internet: The rumors have been doing the rounds since quite some time now. Big TV is giving out Internet trials on their STBs as well, and it can very well be anticipated that soon Internet on your STB will be a reality. Especially when it comes to players such as Tata, Big TV and Airtel who already have separate Internet services going on. It shouldn’t be that big a surprise if they incorporate Internet into their STBs as well in the near future.

3. Better Games: I remember someone suggesting an Xbox live type orifice inside STBs, so people can connect and play games with other DTH subscribers, and games that are of decent quality none the less! We at SaveOnDish have heard such plans being in development way too many times, and it is only a matter of time when we actually get this on our very own STBs.

4. Many other things: This list could go on and on and on for a long time. DTH companies are sure gearing up for the upcoming competition as well as taking steps to stay in business with the existing ones. It wouldn’t be much time until they have a host of new features knowing at your door… er… I mean TV screen.

So just sit back, relax and enjoy your STB as the new updates roll in!

Mr. Channel

Hey there visitors, SaveOnDish.com’s moderator and top contributor Mr. Roh_Style has posted a comprehensive comparison of all the existing DTH services in the market today. We at SaveOnDish hope that this official SaveOnDish comparison of DTH services will help you decide which DTH service to go for.

This review contains the advantages and disadvantages of each of the DTH services, point by point, and enables you to minutely observe the good and bad so that you may see through everything before actually taking the decision of buying a DTH system. So here goes!:

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DD DIRECT PLUS :

Advantages :

(1) DD Direct Plus is India’s first and only DTH service that offers its services absolutely free of cost. No monthly subscriptons to be paid when you are with DD Direct Plus.

(2) Small one-time initial investment on STB and Dish and you can use it life-long.

(3) Apart from all DD chs, DD Direct Plus offers several popular private FTA (Free-To-Air) chs.

(4) As a bonus, DD Direct Plus also offers additional chs, from Dish TV’s satellite which are FTA from time to time.

Disadvantages :

(1) DD Direct Plus does not offer any EPG Click here for reading the rest of this comparison

I have just got this information from one of my sources inside Dish TV India that the channels B4U Music  and B4U Movies are to be added very soon in the Dish TV platform, so people can now rejoice over this news!

Both of these channels are one of my personal favorites, with B4U Music giving us the top songs and B4U Movies displaying movies round the clock.

The reason these channels were removed was because they were not being aired with the quality DishTV wanted to provide its customers, and some technicalities were there which forced DishTV to remove B4U’s channels, there were also some encoding issues. Ways have been worked out for this and the problem is in its final stages.

Expect both the channels to be on your STB from the end of March.

We receive a lot of complaints from the subscribers of Dish TV India on a monthly basis. My personal experience of Dish TV India has been very good, but… somehow a lot of people seem to be getting problems when they are with Dish TV. I have searched and researched their problems repeatedly and have got on to the conclusion that Dish TV giving a lot of authority to their dealers is the main cause of most of the problems.

Lets take Dish TV in a side by side comparison with Tata Sky. Firstly, Tata Sky does not provide its dealers with a lot of authority, they can sell STB’s, certain devices, get connections started, have people recharge their accounts, but thats mostly it. The Tata Sky dealers are not told to do anything else. Tata Sky manages most of its back end stuff itself. Even things like Installation, technical assistance etc. are looked on by Tata Sky themselves.

However, its a different story with Dish TV, as far as I have known, all they have is a customer care center which gives support via phone. Otherwise, for nearly everything else, you have to consult your dealer. Now, these dealers, take unfair advantage of this liberty they get, and therefore, what they do is… they charge a lot of money for many things which normally would have to be charged less.

A lot of people find themselves into a problematic situation when their Dish TV India dealer asks them for money for little things. Dish TV does not have an official rate list too for dealers, which makes it even easier for many dealers to rob their clients.

However I’m not accusing all Dish TV India dealers of being like this, but many of the dealers are involved into such practices and are giving Dish TV India a bad name. Therefore, we need to understand, that the company is not entirely at fault here. But the dealers are.

What Dish TV India should do now is… they should install a little complaint section on the same telephone support they have where a person could go and complain about their dealer. Also, Dish TV India should get an official rate list for different kinds of works carried out by the dealer, rates of which should be able to be confirmed via phone.

Hoping for the best!
Mr. Channel

A user Gopal Krishnan posted this on the forums, I thought it would be good to post it on the main website:

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Many of you will be having this dilemma.

The barrage of advertisements wont do any good either.
You can go by your neighbour’s decision and feel safe or may be you can take your own decision.

I hope my experience will help.

Wanted to take DTH, because cable quality was pathetic and they kept wanting more money. Initially wanted to take dish TV since they have packages. But i found a lot of complaints in this forum regarding customer service. And Tata is a respected brand. Hence the dilemma.

1].But dishtv has been here for two years or so and naturally they might be having more user complaints. So i was not realy scared by that alone.

2].Visit a demo of both. That is very important.

3].The remote: I felt the the remote of tata is too bulky. This is one stuff that you are going to use continously. You dont want have a brick in your hand. Dish TV remote is very handy. [why cant they have a remote locator switch on the TV or set top box like for cordless phones? I keep misplacing the the remotes [now 5 of them!]

4] Interface: changing from one channel to another [which you will be doing every five minutes or so!] is rather clumsy in tata sky. one Big blue banner appears in which you can select and you have to push another button to let it dissappear. very annoying! [the dish blue banner dissappears on its own quickly although i still wish it was more subtle or if there was an option to hide it altogether] Also there is a disturbing bright blue screen which appears for a moment between channels, as they are changed, which is disturbing. [DishTV screen is black between channels like in many tvs and is better. Why cant they have channels that change instantly like in old tvs?] Also i like the way you can arrange favourite channels. [may be there in sky TV, i dont know]

5]picture quality is the same in both. nothing to select there.

6] you have to pay for the wire from your terrace to TV for dishTV[ Rs 10 for every meter and you have to pay around 150] relocation fee for tata is 1000. less for dish.

7] Sun TV channels are available only in dish as of now.

8] packages are available only in dish as of now. I took maxi [everything for 300 a month] Six months free in dish and three in tata.

I selected Dish TV they installed within 24 hours and i had no problems till now. [1 month now]. Havent had the oppurtunity to call in their customer service. so i cant tell you anything about that. Hope it remians that way!

i went for dish because of the remote and the way you change and select channels which were more user friendly.

Please do see both at a demo or better at a house where it is installed and try changing channels and go through the menu etc and decide for yourself which is user friendly. Costs are almost the same and hope they come down. They will, once Reliance comes in!

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Thank you Gopal for such a wonderful guide!

Mr. Channel